Coinbase’s Ethereum layer-2 network, Base, boasts impressive transaction per second (TPS) figures outplaying Solana. Reports suggest its throughput has hit as high as 300-400 TPS.
However, these claims have drawn scrutiny from critics who argue the reported TPS may not accurately reflect the network’s actual performance.
Tensions Between Ethereum Layer-2 and Solana Advocates
Base’s head of protocols, Jesse Pollak, said in an X post that the network had achieved TPS as high as 300-400 without issues. This report prompted a response from trader Wazz, who suggested that if true, Base could achieve TPS similar to the Solana network.
just saw a few minutes of ~300-400 tps on @base with no issues pic.twitter.com/9O2IrEqX6c
— Jesse Pollak (jesse.xyz) 🛡️ (@jessepollak) April 9, 2024
According to Wazz, Solana has reported TPS figures as high as 1,000, but around 60% of the said TPS were failed transactions. This meant that the actual TPS was closer to 400.
Industry players have raised questions concerning the reliability of TPS figures reported by both Base and Solana. In an X post, Mert Mumtaz, CEO of Helium Labs, a Solana-based project, challenged Pollak’s Base TPS claims. He argued the Base figures did not account for failed transactions.
seeing this get DM’d to me
sadly, it is incorrect
OP excludes failed txns on Solana, but not Base
the biggest Base block (link below) has 94% failed txns => 41 TPS
(I disagree w the logic that failed txns don’t count btw — and I’m pretty stoked to see Base pushing limits) pic.twitter.com/f7S1FJ6sV5
— mert | helius.dev (@0xMert_) April 9, 2024
Mumtaz’s analysis of the data provided showed that the largest Base block had up to 94% failed transactions. This failure has resulted in an actual TPS of only 41.
This difference between the reported and actual TPS raises concerns about the transparency and accuracy of the performance metrics being touted by these blockchain networks.
The findings come amid ongoing tensions between proponents of Ethereum layer-2 scaling solutions and advocates of the Solana network.
Solana has faced many issues, including degraded user experience, failing transactions, and other reliability problems. These issues have led to vocal complaints from the Solana community. Ongoing network congestion due to these issues has prompted the delay of some Solana project launches.
Mumtaz previously suggested that a fundamental design flaw is not the cause of Solana’s current issues. Instead, it is due to an implementation bug in the network’s networking protocol. This suggests that the reliability problems plaguing Solana may be solvable.
However, those who view the issues as indicative of more systemic problems have criticised the network’s advocates.
The debate between Ethereum layer-2 and Solana advocates has become increasingly heated. Both sides claim superiority in performance, scalability, and reliability. This tension will continue as blockchain networks compete for user adoption and developer attention.
Meme Coin Hype Drives Growth on Base
Despite the questions surrounding its TPS claims, Base has witnessed a sharp uptick in network activity in recent months. This has largely been driven by an escalating meme coin frenzy.
The total value locked (TVL) on the Base network surged to an all-time high of $1.5 billion on April 9, a 235% increase since the beginning of the year.
This growth in TVL has been fueled by the influx of users seeking to participate in the latest meme coin trends. The Base network has become a popular destination for “degens” racing to find the next prominent meme-inspired cryptocurrency.
However, an in-depth analysis of new meme coins on Base found that over 90% had at least one security vulnerability, while 17% were outright scams.
This raises concerns about the quality and reliability of the projects driving the growth of the Base network. People are concerned about whether this growth is sustainable in the long run.
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