Can a blockchain achieve both scalability and speed, or is it forced to prioritize one over the other?
Solana’s latest initiative has brought this issue into the spotlight for traders and developers. For years, Solana’s rapid growth has fueled its stablecoin market and trading volume.
Simply put, its fast throughput allowed the network to handle huge transaction loads while maintaining strong on-chain liquidity.
Look at Solana’s dedollarization campaign: Dune data, at press time, showed that unique senders of non-USD stablecoins on the network nearly tripled year-over-year, driven by the adoption of EURC and BRZ.
From a strategic perspective, the network is clearly diversifying its stablecoin portfolio, laying the foundation for broader DeFi expansion.
From a technical perspective, however, this growth highlights the strong underlying fundamentals of the Solana Network (SOL). Its high throughput, fast confirmation times, and strong on-chain liquidity have allowed it to support complex financial activities at scale, something many competing blockchains still struggle with.
However, recent quantum tests have revealed a trade-off, raising the question of whether Solana can maintain its advantage.
For context, Solana is working with Project Eleven to test quantum-secure signatures. Basically, it is a way to protect the network against potential attacks from future quantum computers.
The trap?
The first tests show big compromises.
Quantum-secure signatures are up to 40 times larger and the network ran about 90% slower. Simply put, making Solana quantum-resistant could significantly slow down transactions, forcing the network to juggle speed, scalability, and security simultaneously.
This naturally raises a difficult question: Can Solana remain fast and secure while maintaining its edge?
Speed vs. Security: Solana’s Edge Over Ethereum Faces a Critical Test
The trade-off is clear: either ensure safety and slow down, or maintain speed and take more risks.
Recent quantum tests have revealed this trade-off. To protect the network from future quantum attacks, Solana agreed to a speed slowdown of approximately 90%.
As AMBCrypto noted, this is particularly difficult for Solana, as speed has long been its defining advantage over other layer 1s, particularly Ethereum (ETH).
The impact of this advantage has been enormous.
According to Chainspect data, Solana’s high throughput has given it a significant advantage over Ethereum on several metrics. Look at the transaction volume: Solana processed 31 times more transactions than Ethereum, reaching a staggering total of 106 billion transactions.
Notably, this scalability comes directly from Solana’s high speed.
As shown in the chart above, Solana ranks second among all blockchains with 1,191 real-time transactions per second (TPS), compared to Ethereum’s 25.99 TPS. This allows Solana to efficiently handle massive transaction loads, giving it a clear advantage in DeFi, something that slower L1s like Ethereum still struggle with.
According to AMBCrypto, this is why the recent quantum tests are such a crucial moment.
A 90% speed slowdown puts pressure on Solana’s signature advantage. More so, it could slow DeFi’s growth just as competition from Ethereum intensifies.
This, in turn, requires the network to prove that it can stay fast, secure and ahead of the pack. Otherwise, it risks losing the advantage that has long distinguished it.
Final summary
- High throughput and fast TPS enable Solana to handle massive transactions, support DeFi growth, and outperform Ethereum on key metrics.
- The move toward quantum security slows the network by 90%, forcing Solana to balance speed and security or lose its lead.
