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- A Cardano developer has dismissed claims that Hydra, Cardano’s layer-2 solution, can handle 1 million transactions per second (TPS).
- The developer clarified that the “1 million TPS” narrative is misleading and urged for it to be stopped.
Developer Debunks Claims of 1 Million TPS for Hydra
Claims have emerged that Cardano’s Hydra, a layer-2 solution aimed at improving the network’s performance and scalability, is capable of handling up to 1 million transactions per second (TPS). However, a Cardano developer, Matthias “KtorZ” Benkfort, has refuted these claims and stressed that they are misleading. In response to remarks made by Marco Meerman, a Cardano SPO operator, Benkfort stated on Twitter that the “1 million TPS” narrative should be stopped.
Hydra is a layer-2 scaling solution that aims to allow #Cardano to process up to 1 million transactions per second, as it pivots to become one of the fastest and most efficient blockchains in the market.
— M₳rco Meerm₳n (@MarcoMeerman) May 13, 2023
Progress in Hydra Development and Misconceptions
Despite the misconception surrounding the “1 million TPS” claim, significant progress has been made in the development of Hydra. Sebastian Nagel, a Cardano developer working on Hydra, announced the release of the first mainnet-compatible version of the Hydra node. This follows the earlier release of Hydra heads on the public testnet. Hydra functions as a scalability protocol, allowing for the creation of multiple parallel subchains called Hydra heads to process transactions independently.
However, it is important to clarify that Hydra heads are not capable of immediately handling 1 million transactions per second as previously misconstrued.
The Hydra engineering team clarified that scalability should not be solely measured by TPS. They emphasized the importance of considering other metrics such as throughput, finality, and concurrency when discussing scalability. While Hydra heads offer near-instant finality and concurrent transaction processing within a head, the scalability of Cardano’s network is not solely dependent on Hydra.
The team acknowledged that Hydra heads have limitations in terms of scalability and that a network of interconnected Hydra heads and other layer 2 solutions would be necessary to achieve global scalability for consumer-to-consumer payments and NFT sales.
The roadmap for Hydra development includes regular and frequent releases, with an iterative approach to engage with the Cardano community and address developer challenges. The success of Hydra depends on community engagement and feedback, as it aims to create a meaningful ecosystem of layer 2 solutions for Cardano. The development team encourages community participation to contribute to the project’s growth and ensure its usefulness to current and future Cardano users.
As the development of Hydra progresses and misconceptions are clarified, Cardano’s scalability journey continues with the aim of creating an optimized ecosystem for decentralized applications and enhancing network performance. While the “1 million TPS” claim has been debunked, the focus remains on delivering a robust layer 2 solution that can contribute to Cardano’s scalability goals.