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Transactions Per Second, or TPS, is a measure of how many transactions a blockchain can handle every second. It gives us a direct view into the system’s processing power and network throughput. Just like how bandwidth measures how much data can pass through a network at once, TPS measures how much real economic activity the blockchain can accommodate in a given time frame.
In simple terms, a higher TPS means more activity can be settled quickly, a crucial feature for any network looking to support day-to-day financial applications, gaming, or enterprise use cases. On the flip side, lower TPS might lead to congestion, delays, and higher fees when demand spikes.
TPS is one of the key indicators of scalability and usability. It directly affects user experience. If a network becomes popular but can’t scale its TPS fast enough, it risks becoming slow or expensive to use, pushing developers and users to other chains.
For protocols focused on real-time applications like gaming, payments, or high-frequency DeFi, TPS becomes a critical infrastructure benchmark. It reflects whether the chain can keep up with demand as usage grows.
However, TPS isn’t just about the raw number. A blockchain might advertise high theoretical TPS, but actual onchain data can reveal a much lower realised performance. This gap can come from validator constraints, mempool design, or consensus delays.
That’s why it’s important to track realised TPS, which reflects what’s actually happening on the network, not just what’s technically possible under perfect conditions.
High realised TPS generally signals:
If TPS remains consistently low despite high user numbers, it may suggest:
Sudden spikes in TPS could indicate a temporary surge in demand (e.g., minting events or airdrops), but sustained growth is a more reliable signal of real adoption.
Ultimately, transactions per second is a measure of network health and readiness. It’s not the only metric that matters, but it offers a clean, quantitative view of whether a blockchain is truly being used and built to handle what comes next.
