Can Solana be the Solution to the Blockchain Scalability Problem?

Abstract

Solana is a public blockchain platform, launched in April 2018, that aims to increase scalability when compared to other blockchains without compromising decentralization and security. It supports smart contracts and the creation of decentralized applications (DApps). The study aims to collect data from the Solana blockchain and verify some of its properties such as its transactions' throughput, i.e. the rate at which valid transactions are committed into a block by the Solana blockchain during a one second interval of time (TPS). The data were collected over the period of two months (14 October - 15 December) and made public on a GitHub repository. The results of our data analysis show how the average transactions' throughput is about 2812 TPS and that the fees paid by users to have the transactions confirmed are on average much lower than the fees users pay for other blockchains that support the same functions, such as smart contract and the creation of DApps. The paper sheds light on the mechanisms of Solana blockchain that, according to their founders, promises to solve the scalability problem without sacrificing decentralization and security.