Blockchain technology has grown to become one of the cornerstones of the future of the internet. Sure, most people think of the blockchain and consider cryptocurrencies. However, blockchains do much more than just support the operation of digital assets. In a world where many believe that the internet itself needs an upgrade, blockchain is set to be one of the roles of this new evolution.
The Blockchain Trilemma & Scalability
Blockchain is one of the most transformative technologies in the world today, with the ability to
However, while it is a generally accepted fact that blockchain is the future, it is also worth noting that the technology isn’t fully formed at the moment. And like every new technology concept, blockchain is currently facing its own hurdles.
Generally, every blockchain platform is expected to solve
Security and decentralization are pretty straightforward - blockchains should be secure, and they should be free of central control.
Scalability is where things tend to get a bit more complex. As blockchains start to grow, they begin to see an influx of users. These platforms essentially become more and more ubiquitous, with users themselves being able to use their features for a myriad of things - from sending money to developing applications and whatever else they plan to do.
However, this increase in user count also increases the demand for the blockchain’s resources. And, in most cases, a point comes when the blockchain is unable to deliver the same level of efficiency for users because of the demand for its resources.
Just as it is with traditional websites and platforms, blockchains need to find ways to optimize scalability and keep users satisfied. Because if they don’t, not only will they be unable to get more users - there’s a significant chance that they will bleed the users they already have.
We’ve seen cases of scalability issues happen on blockchains many times. From blockchains losing their efficiency to developers dealing with higher transaction costs, scalability issues happen all of the time.
A perfect consequence of scalability issues is the rise in gas fees. When more people use a blockchain than it can handle, transactions start to get clogged up. This means that developers looking to get their transactions confirmed will have to pay more for that to happen. And as the bill racks up, more people will be unable to keep up. It becomes a case of having to pay more money for a transaction to go forward, or waiting in line for the transaction to be confirmed organically and waiting valuable time.
Efforts to Handle Scalability Better
Over the past few years, different blockchain developers have worked to optimize their scalability in several ways. We have the Ethereum blockchain which recently launched its Ethereum 2.0 and migrated its consensus mechanism to proof-of-stake (PoS). On paper, this migration helped Ethereum to improve its scalability, cutting transaction fees and wait times. However, reviews for it have been mixed thus far.
The Klaytn 2.0 upgrade has also been touted for its ability to deliver improved scalability, performance, and interoperability to the metaverse-focused blockchain.
Other solutions have included the launch of layer-two scaling services, which help blockchains to also cut transaction wait times and provide discounts on fees. There has been a discussion on whether these solutions would still be required once blockchains naturally evolve, but so far, they appear to still be a required tool.
The only issue with layer-two solutions is that they tend to be focused more on the major blockchains. In fact, most of them start out by focusing on Ethereum - and, over time, they can choose to branch out and expand to other blockchains if they feel the need to. So, if a competing blockchain experiences scalability problems and the developer of a layer-two solution doesn’t see the need to help out, they simply won’t.
To be fair, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to solving the scalability issue. And for a technology that is still relatively new like blockchain, it may take a while for developers to finally find the right way to optimize scalability.
Nevertheless, blockchain developers clearly understand why they need to be more proactive with this. The evolution of the internet is expected to happen via several specific technological concepts, and blockchain is expected to be one of them. However, with the current state of things, more work needs to be done to ensure that blockchains can handle the influx of customers that is expected to happen over time.
3 Factors to Bolster Blockchain Adoption
Like every nascent technology, blockchain is looking to improve adoption across the board. And while developers focus on different areas, several efforts should be made to help improve general adoption. These include:
- **Performance enhancement:**This requirement ties back to the scalability issue. Blockchains are quite strong already, but enhancing their performance will require optimal scalability to ensure that they can handle the influx of users coming in.
Like every other product, blockchains operate using the same principle - if a blockchain isn’t working as it should and users aren’t able to work with it, adoption will slow. So, from a technological standpoint, scalability is the only way to ensure that a blockchain works as it should and can get the adoption levels necessary. - **Sharding:**The implementation of sharding has been another huge benefit from a scalability standpoint. Charging breaks transactions into smaller networks, all of which work concurrently.
The sharding phenomenon has already helped several blockchain developers to optimize scalability and performance. And, it is one that is expected to yield even more results going forward. - Complexity reduction: For all its benefits, blockchain is still highly complex. The development environments in Web3 are currently not on par with the standards established in Web2, presenting a challenge for builders who want to get involved. To fill this gap, several blockchains have built a number of toolkits and SDKs to serve as reusable building blocks for developers to easily use in their builds.