Scalability is blockchains’ common issue or Cryptokitties as Ethereum possible killer

Any blockchain is able to process a limited number of transactions per second (TPS).

TPS — transaction per second, one of the main key performance indicators (KPI)of the payment process.

Bitcoin blockchain is currently capable of processing up to 7 TPS, Ethereum up to 15 TPS, Neo supposedly up to 1000 TPS. Meanwhile, current centralized payment methods consistently handle higher TPS: Paypal -155, Visa — 2000.

CryptoKitties look innocent however they sometimes sabotage Ethereum network. From time to time a transaction cost increases up to 10 or 20 times. That means due to user activity peaks transactions are queued to be processed by a miner. Sometimes waiting/pending could last for too long and a user has to increase a cost of transaction to be chosen by a miner, to succeed.

Pending transactions queue due to CryptoKitties baby boom (www.news.bitcoin.com)

For example, in December of 2017 due to incredible CryptoKitties usage, many Ethereum based ICOs experienced the critical situation and had to postpone their token sales. The ETH blockchain was suffering from the overload since CryptoKitties transactions are about 10% — 13% of all transactions. That’s huge! The law procession speed is similar to traffic in a rush hour in a big city. Imagine also that a blockchain doesn’t only provides the payment, but it also offers high-security level with multiplied proof of transaction. That means every inrush of the transaction due to whatever ICO or crypto pets baby boom will lead to collapse.

As a result of the cryptokittie’s baby boom, the transactions fees increased significantly. Ethereum users were forced to pay up to 300$ fee and more for one transaction to be chosen by a miner, who could have preferred to give birth to a new crypto toy for a higher commission instead of providing an ordinary payment service. Transaction price rose 100 times in the year 2017.

These factors will never allow the crypto world to merge with a reality of fiat money. If the cost of transaction is too high, nobody will pay such a fee.