Solana hits 100K TPS milestone, reigniting blockchain scalability debate

Solana’s 100K TPS milestone is sending ripples across the blockchain space, with the network surpassing 107,000 transactions per second in live mainnet activity — a feat never before achieved by a leading blockchain.

First highlighted by Helius co-founder Mert Mumtaz, the record-setting performance underscores Solana’s claim to being the fastest, most scalable network in operation today, positioning it as a serious contender in the ongoing race for blockchain dominance.

“Solana just did 107,540 TPS on mainnet. Yes, you read that correctly — over 100k TPS, on mainnet. Good luck bears,” — Mert Mumtaz, Co-founder, Helius, in a social media post.

The Solana 100K TPS milestone was achieved during a high-load stress test executed by developer “dr cavey phd,” involving lightweight “noop” program calls. While the test showcased Solana’s theoretical throughput, it also reignited debates about what these figures mean for actual network usage and adoption.

Stress test versus real-world capacity

The Solana 100K TPS record was set under conditions that many analysts argue do not reflect typical user activity. The test relied on no-operation program calls, which satisfy Solana’s requirement for at least one instruction per transaction but involve no meaningful state changes, token transfers, or smart contract execution.

Although the Solana 100K TPS achievement validates the chain’s theoretical design, real-world throughput tells a different story. Current estimates put daily throughput at around 3,600 TPS, of which two-thirds are validator voting messages needed for consensus. User-driven activity typically averages between 900 and 1,050 TPS.

“While the Solana 100K TPS stress test demonstrates technical potential, real economic throughput remains far lower,” — David Law, Senior Blockchain Analyst, CryptoCompare.

By comparison, Visa processes approximately 24,000 TPS in real-world payments, and Mastercard handles about 5,000 TPS. Among other blockchains, Sui averages 854 TPS, Binance Smart Chain around 378 TPS, Polygon 190 TPS, and Ethereum mainnet about 22 TPS before scaling solutions.

Upcoming upgrades and validator vote

The Solana 100K TPS milestone comes at a critical time, as validators prepare to vote on the proposed SIMD-0326 Alpenglow protocol upgrade. This upgrade aims to overhaul Solana’s current TowerBFT consensus mechanism with faster finality, targeting block confirmations within 100 to 150 milliseconds.

The Alpenglow upgrade would also introduce signature aggregation and direct voting to reduce bandwidth overhead, while removing on-chain vote transactions that currently inflate TPS figures. Instead, voting would shift off-chain with an admission fee for validators.

“The Solana 100K TPS achievement highlights why upgrades like Alpenglow are crucial for turning theoretical capacity into sustainable, real-world throughput,” — Carla Mendes, Head of Research, Crypto Policy Forum.

Market implications and investor outlook

The Solana 100K TPS record coincides with broader developments in the ecosystem. SOL is trading near $180, still down 38% from its January all-time high of $293, yet derivative open interest is approaching $12 billion, suggesting strong institutional interest. Meanwhile, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has extended its review of proposed Solana ETFs from Bitwise and 21Shares until October 16, with Bloomberg analysts predicting potential approval later in the year.

Despite progress, memecoin activity continues to dominate Solana usage, though decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols are steadily regaining momentum. For investors, the Solana 100K TPS milestone is both a technical achievement and a reminder that throughput numbers alone do not determine long-term adoption.

Looking ahead

The Solana 100K TPS milestone will likely fuel further debate among developers, investors, and regulators about blockchain scalability and practical performance. While the stress test demonstrates impressive technical capacity, real-world figures show a significant gap between potential and everyday usage.

For now, the Solana 100K TPS event positions the blockchain as a frontrunner in scalability discussions, but the coming months — particularly the outcome of the Alpenglow upgrade vote and ETF decisions — will determine how much of that potential translates into real-world adoption.