In today's fast-paced digital world, the demand for instant information and rapid transactions continues to grow. This need is especially true in the cryptocurrency space. Here, the speed at which a blockchain network can process and confirm transactions is a key factor. Whether you are using decentralized applications (dApps), engaging in active trading, or facilitating large-scale enterprise solutions, swift transaction processing is essential for a smooth and efficient experience. But how do we measure this speed, and which Layer 1 cryptocurrencies are currently leading the way in high transaction throughput?
Understanding Block Time
Block time is the average time it takes for a new block of transactions to be added to the ledger. Shorter block times usually mean faster confirmations, faster time to finality, and the ability to handle more transactions per second, leading to higher overall throughput.
Top Layer 1 Cryptocurrencies by Block Time
Here are some of the fastest Layer 1 cryptocurrencies, mostly ranked by their block times. We pulled this data from chainspect.app and other good sources. These show the tech that makes them fast:
- Kaspa $KAS (0.1s): Kaspa is very fast with a 0.1-second block time. It uses a special BlockDAG (Directed Acyclic Graph) structure and the GHOSTDAG protocol. This lets it create blocks in parallel, which greatly boosts transaction speed and makes it highly scalable.
- Aptos $APT (0.12s): Aptos uses its AptosBFT consensus and Block-STM, a parallel execution engine, for high speeds.
- Sui $SUI (0.24s): Sui's design focuses on objects. Its Narwhal and Bullshark DAG-based consensus processes transactions in parallel, making it very quick.
- Nano $XNO (0.35s): Previously known as RaiBlocks (XRB), Nano uses a unique block-lattice setup where each account has its own chain. This allows for very quick transaction processing, often cited around 0.35 seconds per block. However, for a complete transaction to settle, two blocks are needed: one by the sender and one by the receiver.
- Solana $SOL (0.4s): Solana achieves speed using Proof of History (PoH), which timestamps transactions, and a Tower BFT consensus.
- Internet Computer $ICP (0.48s): The Internet Computer achieves high transaction throughput through sharding and fast processing with Chain-Key Cryptography, utilizing threshold signatures for efficient block checks.
- Sei $SEI (0.5s): Built for trading, Sei uses a "Twin-Turbo Consensus" and an integrated order matching engine for quick block finalization. It's often around 0.50 seconds.
- Sonic $S (0.51s): Previously known as Fantom (FTM), Sonic has evolved to deliver significantly improved performance. It utilizes an asynchronous Byzantine Fault Tolerant (aBFT) consensus mechanism within a DAG-based architecture, allowing for parallel transaction processing and high throughput.
- BNB Chain $BNB (0.75s): Following its recent Maxwell hardfork, BNB Chain now has a 0.75-second block time. This speeds up transaction confirmations.
- Aleph Zero $AZERO (1s): Aleph Zero's mainnet aims for high transaction throughput, with its average block production rate often cited as 1 second. Its EVM-compatible Layer 2 solution also has a rapid 250ms block time.
Speed Comes at a Cost
However, many of these high-speed blockchains achieve their performance by sacrificing decentralization or security. In pursuit of low-latency transactions, several projects have adopted validator models that concentrate power, implemented aggressive finality systems that allow reversibility, or introduced infrastructure barriers that limit participation.
For instance, BNB Chain maintains a highly centralized validator set dominated by Binance, raising concerns about censorship and governance integrity. Solana, though technically impressive, requires expensive hardware for node operation, leading to a narrow validator base and recurring issues like network congestion and outages. Internet Computer (ICP) has similarly faced downtime and centralization concerns, undermining trust in its long-term reliability. Nano, which uses a lightweight architecture, consistently suffers spam attacks during bull markets that lead to network congestion. Sui, on the other hand, demonstrated centralized control when it froze $160 million from the Cetus exploit-proving that asset immutability can be overridden. And while Hyperliquid touts ultra-fast block times (as low as 0.07 seconds), its closed-source codebase disqualifies it from the transparency expected of public Layer 1s.
These examples illustrate a recurring theme: in optimizing purely for speed, many blockchains compromise the foundational principles that make them trustless, open, and secure.
The Blockchain Trilemma: A Core Challenge
Developers have long faced the "blockchain trilemma". This idea, from Vitalik Buterin, says it's hard for a blockchain to be fully secure, scalable, and decentralized all at once. Many projects choose two out of three, often trading decentralization or security for speed. For example, some solutions rely on sharding, which divides the blockchain into smaller, more manageable pieces. While sharding can boost transaction capacity, it's also known to introduce security tradeoffs and can slow down the overall finality time of transactions across the entire network.
Kaspa is Different
In contrast, Kaspa achieves high throughput without abandoning decentralization or security. It is the only project among its peers that combines a fair launch, proof-of-work consensus, and a fully open-source codebase, free from venture capital influence or centralized control.
What truly distinguishes Kaspa is its ability to maintain these core values while still delivering performance that rivals or exceeds networks built around centralization. Unlike projects that rely on privileged validator sets to manage speed and scalability, Kaspa preserves immutability and trustlessness by design. Its architecture supports rapid block production while remaining inclusive and censorship-resistant-ensuring that the network remains secure, transparent, and aligned with the original vision of decentralized cryptocurrency.
Conclusion
Among the top cryptocurrencies pushing the boundaries of transaction speed, Kaspa stands out with a groundbreaking approach to the blockchain trilemma. Kaspa not only preserves Bitcoin's core principles but also significantly enhances them-demonstrating how security, scalability, and decentralization can coexist without compromise. Looking ahead, the upcoming DagKnight upgrade is set to further increase Kaspa’s time to finality, speed, and scalability.
- Security: With current 0.1-second block times, the window for attacks is drastically reduced-an attacker must not only control over 50% of the hashrate but also maintain that lead consistently to rewrite history, making such an attack highly impractical.
- Scalability: Kaspa leverages parallel block creation. It currently processes 10 blocks per second, a rate that is 6,000 times faster than Bitcoin's average of one block every 10 minutes. The ambitious roadmap aims to scale this to 100 BPS, ensuring that the network remains free from mempool bloat and congestion, even under heavy load.
- Decentralization: Kaspa’s low hardware requirements make mining accessible, while its massive block production-up to 864,000 blocks daily compared to Bitcoin’s 144-effectively tackles pool centralization risk by giving small, individual miners a much better chance to find blocks and earn rewards, fostering a truly decentralized mining environment..