Solana has emerged as the fastest blockchain among large blockchains, processing an impressive 91 million transactions in a single day. With a record-breaking daily average of 1,504 transactions per second (TPS), Solana has showcased its speed by being 46 times faster than Ethereum and over 5 times faster than Polygon. Despite achieving only 1.6% of its theoretical maximum speed of 65,000 TPS, Solana has faced network congestion due to the surge in transactions, raising questions about how quickly it can achieve higher real TPS after upcoming upgrades. The second-fastest blockchain identified was Sui, recording a high TPS of 854 driven by the popularity of the on-chain game Sui 8192. Other non-EVM blockchains like TON and Near Protocol also demonstrated notable TPS figures.
When comparing non-EVM blockchains to EVM and EVM-compatible blockchains, the former outperformed the latter with an average peak TPS of 284, while the 17 largest EVM-based blockchains maintained an average of just 74 TPS. Binance Smart Chain (BSC) emerged as the fastest among EVM blockchains, reaching a real TPS of 378 on December 7, 2023, driven by increased on-chain activity. Polygon, the leading Ethereum scaling solution, achieved 190 TPS on November 16, 2023, making it 8.4 times faster than Ethereum itself. However, Ethereum scaling solutions and layer 2 solutions have yet to surpass other layer 1 blockchains in terms of real processing speed, which may be due to lower on-chain transaction numbers resulting in slower realized TPS for these blockchains.
Additionally, the report highlighted that Ethereum and its ten largest scaling solutions combined achieved a real TPS of 500, surpassing BSC but still trailing behind Solana and Sui. Other scaling solutions that outpaced Ethereum in terms of TPS include Arbitrum, Linea, Base, and Mantle. Over the past year, 24 out of the 25 blockchains analyzed experienced their highest real TPS, with activity levels reaching new heights. The increase in activity can be attributed to the rise of inscriptions and memecoin speculation, which have driven on-chain activity, leading to a surge in the launch of over 1 million new tokens since the beginning of April. Ethereum and Solana have been at the forefront of this token frenzy, with Ethereum hosting over 370,000 new tokens and Solana boasting 640,000 new tokens, predominantly consisting of memecoins.
In conclusion, Solana has shown remarkable speed in processing transactions, positioning itself as the fastest blockchain among large blockchains. Non-EVM blockchains like Sui, TON, and Near Protocol have also demonstrated notable TPS figures, outperforming EVM and EVM-compatible blockchains. While some Ethereum scaling solutions and layer 2 solutions have yet to surpass other layer 1 blockchains in terms of real processing speed, the overall increase in activity across various blockchains has driven new heights in TPS over the past year. With the rise of inscriptions and memecoin speculation fueling on-chain activity, the cryptocurrency market has experienced a surge in the launch of new tokens, with Ethereum and Solana leading the way in hosting a high number of these new tokens.
