1 Million TPS
Tezos developers at Trilitech and Nomadic Labs have recently demonstrated a significant leap in the blockchain’s capability to process transactions. The breakthrough claim: handling one million transactions per second (TPS) on the Tezos blockchain. Here’s a breakdown of this achievement and what it could mean for the future of the blockchain landscape.
Background
The achievement is not just a theoretical claim but has been visually demonstrated.
“In the spirit of ‘show, don’t tell’, we are proud to present a demonstration of Tezos’ ability to process one million TPS”
Nomadic Labs
This feat was achieved using a technology called Smart Rollups, which has been live on Tezos’ Mainnet since March.
What are Smart Rollups?
To put it simply, Smart Rollups are a revolutionary approach to processing transactions on a blockchain. Traditional blockchain processing can be likened to a single-lane road where transactions queue up to be processed. Smart Rollups, on the other hand, expand this into a multi-lane superhighway, allowing more transactions to be processed concurrently.
Specifically, Smart Rollups are a type of Layer 2 solution. They are customizable, facilitate high-speed and resource-intensive computations, and remarkably, manage to keep transaction fees minimal. What sets Tezos’ Smart Rollups apart is their adaptability. They can be constructed using any programming language that can be compiled to WASM (WebAssembly), a type of code that can run on web browsers.
Scaling is achieved through a combination of horizontal and vertical strategies. As described in Nomadic Labs’ detailed post:
“This is done with a combination of horizontal and vertical scaling. Now we are happy to be able to show the outlined approach in action, with a public demo showcasing a throughput of 1 million transactions per second (TPS).”
Nomadic Labs
Moreover, these rollups significantly scale the Tezos network, setting it on a path to cater to billions of users without faltering in speed or shooting up in cost.
The Demonstration
One might wonder, how do you visually represent a million transactions taking place every second? Developers at Elevated Labs adopted a novel approach for this. Their demonstration involved a series of 5-megapixel images displayed sequentially on a webpage. Each pixel’s color in the images was determined by three transactions (one transaction per each RGB color component). Therefore, every single 5-megapixel image is the result of 15 million transactions. As these transactions were processed, the image transformed, with a complete overhaul every 15 seconds. Thus, in each 15-second window, 15 million transactions were executed, which translates to the touted one million transactions per second.
The visualization consists of a series of 5-megapixel images being displayed one by one on a webpage. Each transaction in the demo contains information about one RGB color component in one pixel. Hence, the display of each 5-megapixel image represents 15 million transactions.
Nomadic Labs
The intricate technicalities of this setup were unveiled at the TezDev developer conference held in Paris, where Trilitech’s Emma Turner and Nomadic Labs’ Thomas Letan provided the attendees with an exclusive preview of the demonstration.
Ensuring Authenticity
Ensuring the credibility of such a demonstration is pivotal. Nomadic Labs emphasized in their post regarding the 1 million TPS demo that they didn’t cut corners. Every transaction in the demonstration involved a genuine transfer of a Tezos ticket between two rollup accounts, mirroring the typical transactions on the Tezos Mainnet. They maintained the integrity of each transaction, with each one individually signed and checked. They stressed the importance of this since the signing and verification processes are the most computationally intensive parts of any transaction.
The demonstration was conducted on a public testnet called Mondaynet. It used 1,000 Smart Rollup nodes, each handling a staggering 1,000 TPS. All these nodes were hosted on Google Cloud. It’s noteworthy that they managed to avoid data bottlenecks by utilizing Data Availability Committees (DACs). This allowed the system to handle vast amounts of data without overloading the primary layer of the blockchain.
What’s Next for Tezos?
Achieving one million TPS is just the beginning for Tezos. During a keynote at TezDev 2023, Tezos co-founder Arthur Breitman hinted at more advancements, pointing towards a future where Tezos would scale even further. The core message: they are not resting on their laurels.
As blockchain technology evolves, the race for scalability without compromising security or decentralization intensifies. Tezos’ recent demonstration positions it as a front-runner in this race. As Nomadic Labs concluded in their announcement, Smart Rollups are emblematic of a future-proof, adaptable, highly scalable, and decentralized blockchain solution.
Interested parties, be they developers or organizations, are encouraged to delve deeper, validate the claims, and even set up their tests, with Tezos teams ready to assist in such endeavors.
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