CoinGecko has released a report that places Solana at the forefront of blockchain networks in terms of speed, recording an average of 1,504 transactions per second (TPS). This performance makes Solana 46 times faster than Ethereum and five times faster than Polygon, Ethereum’s leading scaling solution.
What’s Happening in Blockchain Networks?
On April 6, 2023, Solana reached its highest daily TPS during a surge in memecoin activity, demonstrating its significant speed capabilities. However, CoinGecko notes that Solana is still operating at just 1.6% of its theoretical maximum of 65,000 TPS.
Blockchain networks that do not support the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) tend to outperform EVM-compatible networks. On average, non-EVM blockchains are 3.9 times faster than EVM ones. The Sui blockchain, another non-EVM network, recorded the second highest real TPS at 854, driven by the ecosystem game Sui 8192.
Notable Details
In contrast, EVM-compatible networks manage an average of 74 TPS. Among these, BNB Smart Chain (BSC) reached 378 TPS on December 7, 2023, while Polygon recorded 190 TPS, making it the fastest Ethereum scaling solution and 8.4 times quicker than Ethereum’s mainnet.
Ethereum and its scaling solutions lag behind Solana and Sui, with a combined total of 500 TPS. Other Ethereum scaling networks include Arbitrum with 59 TPS, Linea with 56 TPS, Base with 37 TPS, and Mantle with 25 TPS.
Key Insights for Users
- Solana’s average TPS significantly outpaces both Ethereum and its scaling solutions.
- Non-EVM blockchains generally offer faster transaction speeds compared to EVM-compatible networks.
- Sui’s performance is noteworthy, especially given its gaming ecosystem.
- Solana’s network reliability remains a concern despite its speed.
The study highlights that the majority of major blockchains recorded their peak TPS within the last year, with the exception of Thorchain, which peaked in May 2022. Despite Solana’s impressive speed, it has faced reliability issues, including a significant outage in February 2024 due to performance degradation. Validators reported a temporary halt in transactions, prompting an assessment of the network’s efficiency.