Cryptotank₳

How many transactions per second (TPS) can Cardano handle? TPS can tell us how many people can use the network at any given time. TPS is the maximum network throughput. The rough calculation is simple, as we only need to know the block size, the average transaction size, and the block frequency. Cardano mints a new block every 20 seconds. The maximum size of a block and a transaction are defined by the following protocol parameters: - Max block size: 90,112 [B] - Max TX size: 16,384 [B] A simple #Cardano transaction can have a size of 250 to 500 Bytes. Most of the time you will see a 300 Bytes transaction. A Cardano UTxO transaction usually contains 1 input and 2 outputs. The first output is intended for the recipient. The second output returns the part of assets from the input back to the sender. The transaction must contain a witness (100-200 Bytes). Something like 180 to 360 simple transactions can fit into one block. TPS would be 9 to 18. Most Cardano transactions involve smart contracts or token transfers. It is common for one transaction to contain multiple outputs for multiple recipients. Such transactions save block space (because, for example, it is necessary to provide a single witness). See picture 1. A 14 KB transaction can transfer outputs for 217 users (for a fee of 0.78 $ADA). See picture 2. In theory, 6 to 7 such transactions could fit into a block, so the number of users who receive assets through a single block could be around 1300. This brings us to a TPS of around 70. It is necessary to realize that the size of the Cardano block is relatively small compared to Bitcoin and it is possible to increase it. This has happened in the past. Increasing the block size is limited by the speed at which the block propagates through the Internet. Still, I think increasing the block to 1MB would be possible (correct me if I am wrong). One block would hold 3,300 normal transactions (which would be similar to #Bitcoin). TPS would be 166. Block data propagation speed improves diffusion pipelining and other improvements are possible. Cardano makes the TPS metric obsolete, as more than half of the transactions are not common. Many Cardano transactions handle multiple user requests. A more accurate metric would be "Requests per Second", or "Recipients per Second". Block space is a scarce resource. I therefore believe that this type of transaction will dominate in the future as it saves space (and fees). Currently, the network capacity is sufficient. It can be improved quickly by increasing the block size (just the change of the parameter), but that would still be insufficient for mass adoption. A major improvement will be Input Endorsers (Ouroboros Leios). The current block will not contain transactions (the content of TXs) but only references to other types of blocks that will be created more often. The "main" block can theoretically confirm thousands, but even tens of thousands of transactions. The finality of transactions will also improve (since they will be pre-confirmed by many nodes). We'll talk more about that next time. A great tool for tracking block content and TPS is eutxo.org/ (see picture 3).