The Blockchain Trilemma

• This "trilemma" framework is the cornerstone for thinking about and discussing all blockchain technology evolution (such as Ethereum upgrades, Layer 2 solutions).

• The goal of any new technology is to find a better balance point within this "impossible triangle."

I. Problem Background

The concept of The Blockchain Trilemma was first explicitly proposed by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.

It refers to the fact that when designing and building a blockchain network, three key attributes—decentralization, security, and scalability—are difficult to optimize simultaneously.

Usually, optimizing two attributes requires sacrificing the third.

II. Why is it "Difficult"? (Core Contradiction)

This "difficulty" stems from inherent, almost irreconcilable physical and technical contradictions among them.

We can use a vivid analogy to understand this:

Imagine a meeting.

• Decentralization = Every person at the meeting has equal speaking and voting rights.
• Security = Every decision made at the meeting needs to be strictly verified to ensure it's real and valid.
• Scalability = The meeting can quickly make a large number of decisions.

Now, the dilemma arises:

1. If we want to guarantee high "decentralization" and "security" (like Bitcoin):

   • Scenario: A meeting with 10,000 people where everyone has to vote on and record every decision. For security, every decision requires waiting for everyone's votes and records to synchronize.
   • Result: The meeting process will be extremely slow. Making one decision (producing one block) takes a long time (about 10 minutes for Bitcoin), and the topics that can be discussed are limited (block size is limited). This is sacrificing scalability.

2. If we want to guarantee "scalability" and "security":

   • Scenario: For quick decision-making, we elect a presidium (e.g., 21 people) to make decisions. Because few people participate in decision-making, communication and coordination are fast, and efficiency is extremely high.
   • Result: Meeting decision-making is fast, but power is concentrated in the presidium. Ordinary members lose their voice. This is sacrificing decentralization, making it more like a centralized institution (like EOS, Tron).

3. If we want to guarantee "decentralization" and "scalability":

   • Scenario: To be fast, we simplify the security process. We no longer carefully verify everyone's votes, just glance briefly and pass.
   • Result: Decision-making is faster and more people participate, but the system is easily manipulated by malicious actors, leading to wrong decisions. This is sacrificing security, which is the most undesirable approach.

To summarize the "difficult" point: The underlying design of blockchain requires each node to process and verify all transactions, which is the cornerstone of its security and decentralization. But this "duplicate work" inevitably leads to low efficiency. To improve efficiency (scalability), you must inevitably change this basic model, thereby threatening decentralization or security.

III. Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana

Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana have chosen different development paths and technical solutions when facing "The Blockchain Trilemma." The following table can help you quickly grasp their core characteristics and trade-offs.

IV. Kaspa Solves the Blockchain Trilemma

(1) Kaspa Achieved 158 Million Transactions in 24 Hours

• In the 24 hours from UTC 2025-10-05 00:00:00 to 2025-10-06 00:00:00, Kaspa organized a mainnet stress test.

• TPS was maintained above two thousand for a long time, completing a total of 158 million transactions. The mainnet ran stably, and transfers had no delay.

• Details: 2025-10-05 Mainnet Stress Test, in terms of performance, has already exceeded Solana ecosystem's highest daily transaction volume.

(2) Solana Goes Down When Daily Transaction Volume is in the Tens of Millions

Solana has gone down more than once. This time it was because Trump launched a coin, and it went down again...