Blockchain has emerged as a cutting-edge technology that is transforming industries across the globe, from finance to supply chain management. In the modern-day landscape, blockchain has a pivotal role in the overall digitization and protection of digital assets.
Moreover, based on the widespread use of this distributed ledger technology ($94 billion market by 2027), several other concepts have surfaced, including NFTs, decentralized finance, and cryptocurrency. Now, as the demand and use of blockchain and related technologies are increasing, the need for enhanced scalability, security, and throughput has also increased.
While some blockchains excel at satisfying the rising needs, some are still in the growing phase. Let’s uncover the security, scalability, and throughput capabilities of some modern-day blockchains.
A Brief Overview of Security, Scalability, and Throughput!
Before we dive into the details of the modern-day blockchains, let me help you understand the basics of Security, Scalability, and Throughput.
- Scalability: Scalability in a blockchain is defined as the transaction speed, i.e., the ability of a blockchain to process a high volume of transactions quickly. Currently, this is one of the challenges for the cryptocurrency industry.
- Security: The ability of the blockchain to withstand external intrusions and system manipulations comes under security. There are several types of blockchain threats, including double-spending, DDoS, and Sybil.
The most common blockchain attack is a 51% attack where half of the network's hashrate is controlled by a single entity.
- Throughput: The ability of a blockchain network to process a number of transactions in a provided timeframe is throughout. It is supercritical for scalability and performance. The throughput of the blockchain is calculated in blocks per hour or blocks per day.
Evaluating All These Aspects in Modern-day Blockchains!
- Solana
- Arbitrum
- TRC
- Ethereum
- Polygon
Solana
Often referred to as the Ethereum killer, Solana is a blockchain that was designed to work similarly to and improve upon Ethereum. It is high-performing and aims for fast and low-cost transactions.
Solana solves two primary challenges for Ethereum: its scalability and security.
Security
Solana is packed with stringent security measures.
Backed by PoS validation and robust network architecture, it promises a high level of security.
It further enhances the resilience of the blockchain by decentralizing control and incentivizing validators.
Throughput
Unlike Bitcoin and Ethereum, Solana follows a proof-of-history consensus mechanism. This mechanism enables the blockchain to provide a throughput of over 65,000 transactions per second.
Along with proof-of-history consensus, it is also supported by TowerBFT for fast multicasting.
Scalability
Based on the throughput, it is easy to say that Solana has unmatched scalability, as it can handle thousands of transactions per second.
Contract Development Language
The primary contract development language used here is Rust. However, other languages, such as C, C++, Solidity, and Python, can also be used.
Arbitrum
It’s not exactly a blockchain, but Arbitrum is a cryptocurrency network designed as a scalability solution on the Ethereum blockchain. It is a part of the DeFi and dApps ecosystem that has over 100 crypto projects, valuing around $180 billion.
It utilizes the security features of Ethereum while providing fast and affordable transactions. The process reduces the congestion on the Ethereum mainnet and is known as optimistic rollups.
Security
Arbitrum is based on the security features of Ethereum. However, Arbitrum platforms use security features like AnyTrust protocol and OpenZeppelin-reviewed smart contracts.
The protocol helps secure transactions, whereas the smart contracts protect funds and operations.
Throughput
Though less as compared to Solana, Arbitrum has a powerful throughput of 40,000 transactions per second.
Scalability
Arbitrum is actually a scalability system for Ethereum, where transactions are batched and processed off the Ethereum mainnet.
This batching of transactions is enabled by the technology, Optimistic rollups that reduce the load on the mainnet.
Contract Development Language
Rust, C, and C++ are the languages used for writing smart contracts in Arbitrum.
TRC
TRC is the TRON Blockchain that is popular for high throughput, scalability, and support for dApps. It is based on the delegated proof-of-stake (DPoS) consensus that makes it fit for fast transaction processing. The blockchain aims to help content creators sell their work directly to consumers, eliminating the middleman.
Besides, the transactions on the blockchain are validated by a small number of elected nodes, aka Super Representatives.
Security
The security measures of TRON are a bit different than those of other modern-day blockchains.
TRON has a delegated proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, which is its primary security feature.
The system changes the network validator every six hours.
Further, the Bug Bounty Program of TRON allows the TRON community to find and fix bugs and vulnerabilities, rewarding them with TRX, TRON’s native coin.
Throughput
The throughput of the TRON blockchain is much lower than that of its counterparts. It can handle up to 2,000 transactions per second (tps).
Scalability
The throughput of TRON allows for higher scalability, making it fit for dApps.
Contract Development Language
Solidity is used to create smart contracts in TRC.
Polygon
Just like Arbitrum, Polygon is also a “Layer 2” scaling solution that runs alongside the Ethereum blockchain. The native cryptocurrency of Polygon is MATIC, which is used for fees and staking. Polygon helps in saving transaction costs and makes them faster.
The Polygon network is based on the proof-of-stake consensus mechanism.
Security
As Polygon, MATIC is based on a distributed ledger technology, there is no point of failure. This makes it secure.
The MATIC tokens are used to secure the polygon network.
Throughput
The throughput of this remarkable blockchain is 7,000 transactions per second.
Scalability
It is a layer-two scaling system that offers horizontal scaling. Along with processing 7,000 transactions per second, it can create several side chains for scaling.
Contract Development Language
Polygon uses Solidity as the contract development language.
Ethereum
Ethereum is a level-1 distributed blockchain that records and verifies digital transactions. With powerful cryptography and a distributed database, Ethereum allows developers to build applications on it, including crypto coins and financial and gaming applications.
A proof-of-work consensus mechanism supports Ethereum, making it fit for several use cases, including NFTs, smart contracts, dApps, DeFi (decentralized finance), etc.
Decentralized apps are digital applications that are based on Blockchain and run on a decentralized peer-to-peer (P2P) network.
Security
Being a level 1 blockchain network, Ethereum offers powerful security and privacy features to the users.
For example, Ethereum has features such as zero-knowledge proofs and private transactions that help protect sensitive user information and identities.
Throughput
The throughput of Ethereum is one of its primary issues. It delivers a maximum throughput of 15-30 transactions per second.
This is the reason there are several level 2 blockchains supporting it.
Scalability
Because of low throughput, Ethereum can scale using level 2 blockchain networks, such as Arbitrum and Polygon.
These blockchains have higher throughput and can handle Ethereum transactions at a faster rate and low cost.
Optimistic and ZK Rollups are the techniques used to scale the Ethereum blockchain.
Contract Development Language
Solidity is the primary contract development language used in Ethereum.
Final Words
No matter which blockchain it is, each one of them is widely popular and has the potential to excel in the future. As the need for digital and safe transactions is increasing, investing in a blockchain can be a goldmine. However, as technology is new, not everyone possesses the expertise to build it.
In contrast, Helius has the tools and skills to cater to you with an awesome and reliable blockchain solution.