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Being a regular follower of cryptocurrency regulation news, it is expected from you to be aware of many cryptocurrencies that are different from each other. The only common factor which defines their unity is that they fetch something new to the world. But as you know that technology never comes free from problems. There is some or other prevailing factors. The only major and common challenge faced by all cryptocurrencies is the problem of scalability. So today, we are going to understand about it, and will also be knowing about possible solutions to deal with it.
Core Reason Behind The Problem Of Scalability
Before hopping on to know the reasons to stop the problem of scalability, it is very important to have a clear understanding of it. Scalability can be explained as the potential of cryptocurrency to deal with the stream of various transactions at a time. Citing the best example is Bitcoin, which runs simply around seven transactions per second. When it goes beyond this limit, then it results in transactions falling in the queue to get fill up again. The formation of this queue appears due to Bitcoin free commission. Didn’t get it? Well, it indicates the situation, when a maximum amount of commission is paid by the person, claims bigger space in the queue.
Now, the question arises, about why this situation takes place? The reason for the appearance of this unwanted situation is all because of blockchain restrictions. Every block comprises the number of information, which can be quartered by the block. These restrictions prove useful for the system to face DDoS attacks. The transactions which are written in the blocks are information confirmed with translation. The creation of every block does not happen very soon, it takes time. Also, it should be known that every cryptocurrency features a specific generated time. If you talk of Bitcoin, then it is 10 minutes.
Solutions To Deal With The Problem Of Scalability
The problem of scalability is a major barrier in sloping down crypto technological development. The example can be best noticed in stores and restaurants, where it becomes unprofitable for them in accepting token payments, due to delaying issues caused by scalability. This breeds the need among the developers of cryptocurrency to come out with solutions to deal with scalability issues. So let us see what are they:
Enhancing Block Size
The proposal to bring the solution for the problem of scalability in the form of increasing the block size was much initiated by many experts and companies, five years back. Well, there is a story behind it. It starts with the decision of programmers to plan a newbie cryptocurrency, which will base on Bitcoin protocol, but with much bigger blocks in comparison to original Bitcoin. Contrary to these group of programmers, there was another group who also initiated for the need of new cryptocurrency with own protocol. But they were not in favour of block expansion. Initially, the agreement was done on compromise, but, later on, developers from both the sides, disagreed with each other.
If you are abreast of the latest Bitcoin Cash news, then you will know that this new cryptocurrency which was based on Bitcoin protocol was Bitcoin Cash with expanded blocks. But what is expected seems the opposite as a result. It is because of the possibility of overcoming the boundary of 8 megabytes by the transactions. In short, there is no assured guarantee for the idea of increased block size in terms of system capacity at the time of the flood of operations.
Signature Solution
This solution has a worth to be considered. It is all because sharing the half part of the whole block by the signature. The solution is beneficial, with the transfer of signature by the protocol from the block to another. The large-sized block comprised of detached signature covering up around 4 megabytes, whereas 2 megabytes of the block is occupied by transactions.
Solution Of Lightning Network
The next referred solution to solve the problem of scalability is the Lightning Network protocol. It finds its use in the cryptocurrency network for nodes and channels. The operations conducted in real-time mode is supposed to be its biggest advantage. To carry out a transaction, it needs is two nodes and a channel between them. A specified amount is being set by two nodes for the maintenance of the channel. Even though it stays at alpha-version, still, it is among the best solution for the problem of scalability.
Conclusion
The problem of scalability is a major concern for all cryptocurrencies. But as it says, when there is a problem, there is always a solution for it. Similarly, there are a lot of proposals as solutions for this crypto shortcoming. The above three mentioned solutions are the extracted best ones. Nowadays, there is the emergence of fresh cryptocurrencies with reformed solutions to this problem. In the coming years, it might not remain to be a much-bothering factor for cryptocurrencies in the coming future. So let us see whether there will be more such solutions that can wipe off the problem of scalability.
