Solana has once again created a big buzz in the crypto world — especially after @cavemanloverboy managed to hit 100,000 TPS under ideal test conditions! 😱
Some people think it’s “just a number,” but if you look deeper, this experiment actually gives us a powerful preview of Solana’s true performance potential.
This record-breaking TPS was achieved using a simple “noop” test program, where each transaction was only 200 bytes and only performed signature verification — no smart contract execution, no state changes. In other words, it didn’t test the application layer… it tested the network and consensus layer’s raw capacity 🔧⚡
🧠 The Secret Weapon: Frankendancer Validator
The reason this test succeeded is because they used the Frankendancer validator client — a hybrid prototype of Jump Crypto’s high-performance Firedancer validator.
Using high-frequency trading techniques like:
⚡ Advanced memory management
🧵 Custom thread scheduling
…they managed to unlock a 3x–5x performance boost over the regular Solana validator.
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😕 So Why Is Real-world TPS Still Only 3K–4K?
Great question. Here are the main reasons:
✅ 1. Voting Transactions Fill 70% of Block Space
Solana’s Proof of History (PoH) requires validators to submit constant votes. These voting transactions currently use over 70% of the available block space, which leaves very little room for actual user transactions.
✅ 2. State Competition During NFT/Meme Hype
Whenever a popular NFT mint or meme coin launches, thousands of users and bots hit the network at the same time. This causes heavy state contention, resulting in a high number of failed transactions.
✅ 3. Spam from Arbitrage Bots
Arbitrage bots send massive amounts of (often invalid) transactions in order to catch small profit opportunities. This wastes system resources and reduces real throughput.
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🔧 Upcoming Upgrades That Will Change Everything
Solana is preparing two major upgrades designed specifically to solve these bottlenecks:
🔥 Firedancer (Full Deployment)
Massive performance boost
Introduces client diversity, just like Ethereum (Geth, Nethermind, etc.)
Reduces the danger of single-client failures and improves decentralization
🌄 Alpenglow Consensus Upgrade
Moves voting transactions off-chain, freeing up the full 70% block space ✅
Cuts confirmation time to ~150ms, making DEX trading feel as fast as a CEX ⚡
Activates local fee markets to isolate congestion caused by individual programs (no more entire network slowdown when one app is trending)
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🔮 Final Thoughts: Could Solana Become the Ultimate High-Speed Settlement Layer?
If you only look at the TPS number, you might miss the real message.
This test shows that Solana’s architecture is capable of much more — and the upcoming upgrades are about to unlock that hidden potential.
Once Firedancer and Alpenglow go live, DEX trades will settle instantly, NFT mints won’t break the network, and the entire ecosystem will feel ultra responsive.
Solana isn’t just competing with Ethereum… it’s positioning itself to become the global high-performance settlement layer of Web3 🙌
