Transaction Bytes per Second (TBPS). This metric measures the total transaction data throughput on chain and it’s been increasing consistently. We think this is a much much more meaningful metric than Transactions Per Second (TPS). Why?
On an extended Unspent Transaction Output (eUTxO) chain like Cardano a simple metric of TPS does not reflect the reality of work actually done by the chain. A single transaction may have hundreds of outputs which would have taken hundreds of transactions on an account based chain like Ethereum, given there is no ability to bundle the transactions.
While Cardano has averaged around 1TPS since Smart Contracts were implemented at the start of Alonzo, the data usage and number of UTxO’s within blocks has significantly climbed. The main reason is that dApps have optimised their code and have become better at packing more into each block. The TBPS data below shows clearly how they are now pushing the boundaries of what can be achieved with the current blockchain limits (pre-Vasil).
We recommend taking a look at the Cardano Blockchain Insights site for more data on this and a host of other metrics.
Want to go a bit deeper on the topic of TPS and why it may not be such a great metric? Check out this video from Duncan Coutts and Neil Davies from a couple of years ago.
As ever they nailed it.