Key Takeaways:
- Cardano’s 23 TPS and 20-second block times make it non-competitive.
- Lack of a dynamic fee market and slow development hinder real-world adoption.
- Delays in Leios scaling threaten ADA’s future relevance.
- Competing chains like Solana and Sui already achieve 20K+ TPS today.
Cardano Scalability Problem: A Growing Concern
Despite being among the most decentralized blockchains, Cardano (ADA) faces a harsh truth: its core technology cannot currently compete with faster, more scalable networks. With a maximum capacity of just 23 transactions per second (TPS) and a 20-second block time, ADA’s infrastructure lags far behind rivals such as Solana, Sui, and Near, which already boast sub-second speeds and tens of thousands of TPS.
Also Read: What Is Cardano (ADA)? A Complete Guide to the Third-Generation Blockchain
Decentralization is valuable, but it’s not enough to sustain an ecosystem in a market driven by user experience and performance. Developers now face an unavoidable question—why build on ADA when faster, cheaper, and more scalable options exist?
The Math Doesn’t Lie: 23 TPS Isn’t Competitive
Cardano’s transaction capacity is limited by its block size (90,112 bytes) and transaction size (192 bytes)—yielding only about 23 TPS. Community claims that “batching” transactions increases capacity don’t hold up under fair comparison, since most major blockchains also support batching.
Even worse, ADA’s fee model is fixed by governance, not by market forces. This means no dynamic fee prioritization during high demand, making the network prone to congestion or spam attacks.
Hydra and Leios: Future Fixes Still on the Horizon
While Hydra, Cardano’s layer-2 solution, promises scalability, it doesn’t address the core layer-1 bottleneck. The real hope lies with Leios, a long-promised upgrade that could lift capacity to around 10,000 TPS. But after four years of delays and no confirmed release date, the community’s patience is wearing thin.
Competing blockchains are not standing still—Solana and Sui are already achieving 20,000+ TPS with faster block times. Even if Leios were released today, ADA would still trail the pack.
Promises Won’t Save ADA
Cardano’s decentralization and governance achievements are impressive, but innovation delay and poor scalability threaten its long-term viability. In crypto, what matters is not future promises but what works now.
Also Read: Cardano (ADA) Price Prediction: Analyst Signals Bullish Reversal Ahead
Unless Cardano delivers genuine scalability soon, it risks becoming a case study in how “vibes” and vision can’t outpace real performance.
