Solana's Transactions Unmasked: Going Beyond the Numbers

Hello, blockchain enthusiasts!

Solana has certainly made waves as one of the fastest blockchains, boasting an impressive 65,000 transactions per second on their website. It's undeniably impressive, right? But let's not just marvel at the numbers; let's take a deeper dive into real-time TPS and understand what those transactions are all about.

Our journey begins at explorer.solana.com, where we'll verify Solana's self-proclaimed TPS. As of this post, it's an impressive 4,651 transactions per second. But what's beneath this number's surface?

Next, we'll step up our game. We're taking Solana's endpoint and connecting directly to the blockchain. No block explorers or user interfaces to confuse us. We'll use the getBlock RPC method to extract transactions from specific blocks, providing a JSON file with a transaction set.

Here's the fascinating part: as we analyze these transactions, we'll notice a recurring theme – many of them bear a "Vote111111111111111111111111111111111111111" marker. Curious, right? Well, it turns out Solana includes voting transactions in their block space. These transactions, submitted by validators, play a crucial role in network consensus.

Taking an example block, Dqfab19Ggaru7zAr1G8hC4gTvbC9YZ63wHc1HgFVsGHK, we find 2,198 transactions. However, here's the catch – a whopping 2,074 of these belong to voting transactions, with only 124 categorized as regular blockchain transactions (think SOL transfers or smart contracts).

But why does this matter? Well, here's the deal: comparing the speed and quality of different blockchains solely based on raw metrics like TPS is a bit like comparing apples and oranges. It's crucial to dig deeper and understand a blockchain's architecture before making comparisons.

If you're interested, you can conveniently check real-time TPS for various blockchains at chainspect.app. No need to hassle with connecting to blockchain endpoints or deep dives into network architecture. It's all about making informed comparisons.

Let's keep the discussion going! What are your thoughts on Solana's TPS and its impact on the blockchain landscape?