MultiversX Enhances Layer-2 Speed with Sovereign Chains

The MultiversX smart contract platform could significantly enhance the transaction capabilities of existing layer-2 (L2) blockchain networks. This improvement might boost the transaction throughput by up to 100 times, thanks to MultiversX’s recently introduced Sovereign Chains, a blockchain-as-a-service solution. Sovereign Chains allow existing L2 networks to inherit MultiversX’s scalability.

With the help of Sovereign Chains, existing L2 networks can increase their transactions per second (TPS) and smart contract TPS by up to 100 times, as stated by Beniamin Mincu, CEO and co-founder of MultiversX. Mincu explained that Sovereign Chains come with numerous innovations and intensive engineering efforts behind them, enabling such speeds with relatively inexpensive hardware. For instance, 20 validator nodes running on 16 cores, 64GB RAM, 1TB NVME SSD (though only 10 cores were used for processing) were employed to reach these speeds.

High scalability and transaction throughput are crucial for utilizing blockchain technology in practical applications, such as micropayments, which need a network capable of settling thousands of transactions quickly and cheaply. The question is whether L2s will reach 100,000 TPS with the help of Sovereign Chains. During its initial demo, the public Sovereign Chain achieved an impressive throughput of 77,000 TPS. This performance is considerably faster than Solana’s maximum real-world throughput of 1,053 TPS, an industry leader.

The team at MultiversX is now working towards surpassing the 100,000 TPS mark. Mincu detailed that the peak performance of the first public Sovereign Chain demo was 77,000 TPS and that efforts are ongoing to push this further to over 100,000 TPS. Achieving this involves optimizing every aspect, from the consensus mechanism to networking, and the entire transaction processing journey.

Achieving such high throughput in real-world conditions is challenging. For instance, Solana has been able to attain only 1.6% of its maximum theoretical throughput of 65,000 TPS. This disparity illustrates the difficulties in translating theoretical performance into practical application.

Beyond enhancing throughput, Sovereign Chains can also improve the interoperability for L2 networks built on top of major blockchains like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. Native interoperability facilitated by chain abstraction can unlock the full potential of decentralized blockchain networks. According to Mincu, this means users will be able to switch from one application to another seamlessly, regardless of the underlying blockchain. This transformation would make the infrastructure function as invisible layers, simply serving as backends without requiring the user to understand their specific details.

The current fragmentation in the blockchain ecosystem poses challenges for decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, making them hard to use. Users must often bridge assets across different chains to interact with various blockchains. Sovereign Chains aim to enhance the interoperability of major blockchains, making it easier for builders and end-users.

Mincu elaborated that Sovereign Chains strive to make any asset, protocol, community, capital, and opportunity in Web3 globally accessible and usable. The goal is to make these elements composable and accessible from anywhere for anyone using blockchain technology, thereby significantly improving user experience and operational efficiency.

The Sovereign Chains introduced by MultiversX could revolutionize the performance and interoperability of existing L2 networks, making blockchain technology more practical and efficient for a wide range of real-world applications.