Thread by @mt_1466

1/ Why is #blockchain scaling so controversial? From the #blocksizewars to #Alt L1s and #rollups.

Is it really that hard?!

🧵 time...

2/ Blockchains like #Bitcoin and #Ethereum strive for maximum #decentralization and #censorship-resistance while remaining totally open and inclusive networks. However, they also want to scale to accommodate billions of users.

3/ As they stand right now, their limited capacity to process transactions at the base layer (~7 and ~20 TPS, respectively) are in direct opposition to achieving that goal.

The question is “What is the best method of scaling a blockchain?” 🧐
@TrustlessState @sassal0x

4/ Nearly every new “next generation” blockchain since 2016 boasts sky-high transactions per second (TPS) as a selling point. However, the issue that persists is that TPS is not the sole metric in which to compare blockchain scaling.
@RyanSAdams

5/ Generally, the truth is that the higher the TPS, the higher the cost (financially & computationally) to run the network. Given this, the ❓ arises: Are these “next-generation” chains actually scaling, or just simply increasing TPS while shrinking the network in other regards?

6/ The primary means by which to accomplish sustainable scaling are minimizing the hardware requirements needed to participate in the network and, also, ensuring the state of the network (data) does not balloon to unsustainable levels.

7/ Network nodes are what enforce the rules of the chain and ensure no one is cheating the system. Therefore, having a robust, geographically-dispersed, and anti-fragile network of nodes is ideal for the decentralization and security of the network.

8/ In order to attain this system, the costs to run a node (hardware, bandwidth, energy, and storage) should be as little as possible. This allows the greatest number of people the option to join the network if they so choose.

9/ The other variable to consider is state growth, i.e. how quickly the blockchain’s computational load grows.

Full nodes store the network’s entire history from genesis and must be able to validate the entirety of the network’s state.

10/ Blockchains that scale by simply increasing the block space and throughput per unit of time (#BSC and #EOS), also greatly increase their state growth.

https://twitter.com/EdgarArout/status/1366090272480894977?s=20

11/ Those chains are short-term solutions that lead to long-term unsustainable networks.

Blockchains like #Solana, which are designed for greater TPS via specialized hardware, also run into state growth and centralization issues.

12/ To be fair, #SOL did introduce some new technological innovations like #ProofofHistory and a parallel execution environment. However, like the “#Ethereumkillers” of the 2017 era, this design is not long-term scalable/sustainable.

13/ #SolanaCommunity already boasts some of the most expensive and specialized hardware requirements of any top 20 #cryptocurrencies, and as Solana transactions and price increase, the hardware costs to run a node, be a validator, and process transactions also increase.

14/ Hardware requirements
#BTC: 350GB HDD disk space (DS), 5 Mbit/s connection, 1GB RAM, CPU >1 Ghz. Nodes=~10,000

#ETH: 500GB SSD DS, 25 Mbit/s connection, 4–8GB RAM, CPU 2–4 cores. Nodes=~6,000

#SOL: 1.5TB+ SSD DS, 300 Mbit/s connection, 128GB RAM CPU 12+ cores.Nodes= ~1,200

15/ In the #ETH ecosystem, serving as a validator on the Beacon Chain requires staking 32 ETH (~$100,000 in Q1 2022). While this sounds quite expensive and exclusionary on the surface, it's cheaper relative to other chains top blockchains like #Avalanche, Solana, #BSC, #Ripple.

16/ It also removes the economy of scale that exists in #PoW chains and with liquid staking services like @LidoFinance & @RocketPoolBot, users can participate with less than 32 ETH.

17/ Ethereum’s state growth situation is better than most chains (thanks to its lower gas limit) but could become problematic given enough time. This is acknowledged and proactively being worked!

18/ As time passes and Ethereum adoption increases, the state grows in size and complexity. This ultimately increases the total time it takes for a full node to sync and the hardware requirements needed to run one.

19/ Fortunately, Ethereum has been designed to scale with #rollups which help reduce this state growth issue. As discussed at length, rollups handle enormous amounts of computation and transactions off-chain while only submitting a tiny “fingerprint” (proof) to the mainnet.

20/ This, coupled with #sharding, enables exponential room for growth in a sustainable manner so long as there is ample #dataavailability.

Which is a topic for a future thread. Stay tuned!

gotta give thanks to thanks to @antiprosynth @RyanBerckmans @j0hnwang @odin_free @Darrenlautf @cryptoprag @prateek_jain321 @lopp @domothy @Swagtimus @BanklessHQ for covering this topic (to different extents) previously