Understanding Ethereum TPS and Its Future

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Ethereum's transaction per second (TPS) has been a topic of discussion in the blockchain community for a while now. It currently stands at around 15 TPS, which is relatively low compared to other payment systems like Visa, which can process over 24,000 TPS.

This low TPS rate is due to the complexity of Ethereum's smart contract functionality, which requires more processing power and time. The Ethereum network has to verify and execute complex contracts, unlike other payment systems that only need to process simple transactions.

Ethereum's developers are working on improving the network's scalability and increasing its TPS capacity. One of the solutions is the implementation of sharding, which will split the network into smaller, parallel chains, allowing for more transactions to be processed simultaneously.

What is Ethereum TPS?

Ethereum TPS is a measure of how many transactions per second the Ethereum blockchain is processing at any given moment. This is known as Real-Time TPS, and it's considered the most important metric because it shows the actual transaction rate the blockchain is handling right now.

Etherscan, an Ethereum explorer, reports that Ethereum's current TPS is around 14.2, and this figure is updated every 5 minutes.

The Max Recorded TPS indicates the highest or peak TPS Ethereum has ever reached, but the exact figure is not specified in this article section.

Definition

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Ethereum TPS, or Transactions Per Second, refers to the number of transactions a network can process in a single second. This metric is crucial for understanding the scalability of a blockchain network.

Ethereum's current TPS is around 15-20 transactions per second, which is relatively low compared to traditional payment systems. This is because Ethereum's network is decentralized and relies on a consensus mechanism to validate transactions.

A higher TPS would enable more users to interact with the network simultaneously, making it more suitable for mainstream adoption. This is a key challenge for Ethereum and other blockchain networks.

Transaction Per Second

Transaction Per Second is a crucial metric for evaluating a blockchain's performance.

Real-Time TPS, also known as the current TPS, shows how many transactions per second the blockchain is processing at any given moment.

For example, Ethereum explorer “Etherscan” places Ethereum's current TPS at 14.2, a figure that is updated every 5 minutes.

Max Recorded TPS indicates the highest or peak TPS a blockchain has ever reached.

Max Theoretical TPS, on the other hand, shows how many transactions per second the blockchain is theoretically capable of handling.

Current State

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Ethereum's current TPS (Transactions Per Second) is around 15-20, which is significantly lower than the 100,000 TPS promised by its creator Vitalik Buterin.

This is largely due to the network's current architecture, which was designed to prioritize security over scalability.

The Ethereum network is still in the process of transitioning to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus algorithm, which is expected to improve its TPS in the future.

However, even with the current limitations, Ethereum remains one of the most widely used and decentralized blockchain platforms available.

The network's popularity and usage continue to grow, with more and more developers and users joining the ecosystem every day.

Improving TPS

Ethereum's current TPS is around 15, which is quite low, but the Ethereum foundation is actively working to solve this problem through sharded blockchain and other techniques.

One of the solutions being explored is sharding, which can significantly increase TPS. For example, with a group of about 100 validators per shard, each connected to 10 other validators, transactions can come from either other validators or someone from outside the validator cluster.

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Sharding can reduce bandwidth by a factor of 10, and even with a large amount of overlap, you'd never have to be more than 8 hops away from the required validator cluster. This can result in a propagation delay of around a half second.

With validators on a 1Gbps pipe, you can receive ~100Mbps' worth of transactions in your cluster, which is equivalent to 2500 transactions per second per shard.

Here's a rough estimate of how sharding can increase TPS:

  • 100 validators per shard
  • 10 other validators connected to each validator
  • 2500 transactions per second per shard

Additionally, Ethereum's future plans include rollups, which can bring TPS to around 3000, and eventually, phase 2 will bring eth2 sharded chains with native computations, which can give us ~1000-5000 TPS.

It's worth noting that these estimates are based on rough orders of magnitude and are subject to change as the technology evolves.

Vanessa Schmidt

Lead Writer

Vanessa Schmidt is a seasoned writer with a passion for crafting informative and engaging content. With a keen eye for detail and a knack for research, she has established herself as a trusted voice in the world of personal finance. Her expertise has led to the creation of articles on a wide range of topics, including Wells Fargo credit card information, where she provides readers with valuable insights and practical advice.

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