The TON Blockchain has recently achieved a notable milestone by establishing itself as the fastest and most scalable blockchain in the world. This accomplishment can be attributed to its unparalleled architecture that enables infinite scaling capabilities, allowing it to process millions of transactions per second for billions of users. As a result, TON has set a new benchmark for the ultimate Web3 infrastructure.
This groundbreaking achievement in the field of blockchain technology highlights the potential for TON to revolutionize the way transactions are conducted across various industries. Its remarkable speed and scalability make it an ideal platform for addressing the ever-growing demands of users and businesses alike while setting the stage for future advancements in the decentralized digital space.
Impressive Transaction Speeds
The TON Blockchain recently achieved a remarkable milestone during a livestream event hosted by the TON Foundation and audited by Certik. With a staggering 104,715 transactions per second, it set a new world record for transaction speed in the blockchain industry. This impressive performance surpasses even the most widely-used centralized payment systems.
To put this accomplishment into perspective, a comparison with the top 25 blockchains from CoinMarketCap in 2022 reveals that TON's transaction speed far exceeds those of well-known blockchains and bank payment networks by a considerable margin.
TON Blockchain Network Stress Test
The TON team used 256 servers rented from Alibaba Cloud for validator nodes and initiated a separate TON Blockchain network. The objective was to analyze the network's performance under heavy load and stress.
To accomplish this, a unique "bomb" smart contract was created, designed to clone itself and continuously transmit transactions, resulting in an exponential increase in network load. Operating on a separate test network prevented astronomical fees that would otherwise incur in a real network scenario.
The "bomb" was activated for 10 minutes, leading to extreme load growth, causing the network to split into shardchains. In turn, it divided into 512 shards, processing an impressive 90-110K transactions per second. The network successfully withstood this load for an extended period before being manually terminated.
The entire test was conducted transparently and in real-time by the TON core team, with oversight from the independent auditor Certik.
How Does TON Work
The TON Blockchain efficiently manages transactions through specialized nodes called validators. These core components process various user activities, such as transferring coins or asset exchanges on decentralized platforms.
One key aspect of TON's performance lies in its ability to expand into sub-blockchains known as shardchains when the number of users or load increases. Each shardchain has a dedicated group of validators that handle the workload. As demand decreases, these shardchains can merge back together. This process, referred to as "dynamic sharding," sets TON apart as a frontrunner in modern blockchain architecture. With this innovative approach, TON effectively balances speed, energy, and scalability.
Impressive Transaction Capacity
The TON network has been designed with the ability to handle millions of transactions per second, given that there are sufficient validator nodes within the system. This capability demonstrates remarkable potential for scalability and efficient transaction processing. However, accessing this level of capacity during testing has faced challenges, as cloud providers and data centers have not been interested in allocating the number of productive servers needed for a short-term test.
TON vs. Solana: A Comparison of Next-Generation Blockchains
When examining TON and Solana, it becomes clear that TON surpasses the previous fastest blockchain, Solana, in terms of its scalable capabilities and potential for growth.
- TON's dynamic sharding technology gives it the ability to scale almost infinitely, as new validator nodes can be added as needed. This stands in contrast to monolithic blockchains like Solana, which possess a physical limit after which further scaling becomes impossible.
- Historically, vertical scaling has been consistently replaced by horizontal scaling or sharding. TON's horizontal scaling capabilities place it at the forefront of the next generation of blockchain technology.
- In addition to handling simple transactions efficiently, TON also excels in executing Turing-complete smart contracts. This allows for complex decentralized applications like exchanges and marketplaces to run without bogging down the blockchain. This sets it apart from Solana, which is optimized for executing specialized and predefined transactions but encounters decreased performance when managing arbitrary transactions.
Comparing Blockchain Speeds
Time-to-Finality
Blockchain users create transactions which are grouped into blocks and added to the blockchain. It is important to note that in some blockchains, a block can change after it is added, so users need to wait for a certain period to ensure payment completion. This waiting period is called "time-to-finality". In Bitcoin, the time-to-finality is around 60 minutes, while in Ethereum, it is approximately 13 minutes.
However, in TON, once a block is written to the blockchain, it becomes final. On the main network, blocks are created every 4-6 seconds, making TON's time-to-finality only 6 seconds.
Layer 1 vs Layer 2 Blockchains
Full-fledged blockchains, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and TON, are called Layer 1 or L1 networks. There are also projects that enhance and supercharge blockchains, known as Layer 2 or L2 networks. These solutions can achieve higher speeds and performance by sacrificing decentralization or functionality since they are not decentralized blockchains. An example is Arbitrum, which is an L2 blockchain that offers improved performance but reduced functionality.
Although TON (Layer 1) outperforms most Layer 2 solutions in terms of speed and performance, TON is also working on its Layer 2 solution, the TON Payment Network. This will enable instant micropayments without network fees for various applications. The first stage, the payment channel technology, has been completed, and future plans can be found in TON's roadmap.
Optimizations in TON Performance
During the development process, it was discovered that the potential of TON can be further extended, not only by incorporating more validator nodes but also by refining the nodes themselves. One notable improvement was the division of a validator into two separate nodes - the collator and the validator. This vital update, named "Accelerator," will be implemented on the mainnet following extensive testing.
TON Project and Mass Adoption
TON and Telegram Collaboration
The TON project aims to achieve widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies and decentralized technologies. A significant step toward this goal is the recent collaboration between TON and Telegram, a messaging app with 800 million monthly active users.
TON's Technical Advantages
With the public test, TON has demonstrated that it is technologically ahead of other existing blockchain projects and prepared for mass adoption.
Transaction Processing Comparison
- Visa: According to Visa's Annual Report For SEC (September 30, 2022), 192,530 million transactions were processed in 2022. The average TPS is 6,105, while the maximum TPS is 65,000, as per Visa's Fact Sheet.
- MasterCard: Cointelegraph's Network Comparison states that MasterCard's maximum TPS is 5,000.
- PayPal: Based on PayPal's Annual Report For SEC (December 31, 2022), 22.3 billion transactions were processed in 2022, resulting in an average TPS of 707.
