How many transactions per second can a blockchain handle?

Transactions per second (TPS) is the number of transactions a blockchain can process each second, and it varies hugely between networks. Bitcoin's base layer manages a handful, Ethereum's main layer somewhat more, and newer chains such as Solana are designed for thousands. Raw TPS is only part of the story, because each network trades off speed against decentralization and security.

How many transactions per second can Bitcoin handle?

Bitcoin adds a block about every 10 minutes, and block space is limited. Using an average transaction size, that works out to roughly 3.3 to 7 transactions per second. After the SegWit upgrade, the cap is measured in block weight, allowing blocks up to about 4 MB, but the order of magnitude stayed the same. Changing it would need a fork, which has been a long-running dispute in Bitcoin. Much of the push for faster bitcoin payments now goes through the Lightning Network, which settles to the main chain only occasionally.

What is Ethereum's TPS?

ethereum.org gives a rough figure of about 15 transactions per second for Ethereum Mainnet. In practice, Ethereum capacity is measured in gas per block rather than a fixed count, because a simple transfer uses far less gas than a complex contract call. The Fusaka upgrade in December 2025 raised the default block gas limit from 45 million to 60 million, so current throughput is higher than older figures suggest.

Ethereum's main plan for scale is layer 2 networks. They process transactions off the main chain and post the data back, sharing one main-layer transaction across many users. ethereum.org notes that some designs, such as validiums, can reach around 10,000 TPS per chain.

How many transactions per second can Solana handle?

Solana describes itself as able to process thousands of transactions per second. It uses short block times, cut from 400 to 200 milliseconds in stages finished in October 2026. Solana's reported TPS has long included validator vote transactions, which are part of consensus rather than user activity. Its Alpenglow upgrade, scheduled for mainnet activation around October 21, 2026, removes votes from blocks. Solana says reported TPS will drop sharply as a result, but calls that an accounting change rather than a loss of capacity. More on the network is in what is Solana.

How does Visa compare with Bitcoin on TPS?

Visa says VisaNet can process up to 83,000 transaction messages per second worldwide at peak and handles more than 322 billion transactions a year. That is several orders of magnitude above Bitcoin's base layer. The comparison is not like for like, though. Visa is a centrally run network, while public blockchains have many independent nodes checking every transaction, which is a big part of why they are slower.