Solana Achieves 100K TPS Milestone In Latest Capacity Test—But Reality Tells A Different Story

Solana made headlines over the weekend when its network reached a theoretical throughput of 100,000 transactions per second (TPS) during a stress test. A single block validated by “Cavey Cool” processed 43,016 successful transactions alongside 50 failed ones, with peak TPS reaching 107,540. Helius co-founder Mert Mumtaz announced the achievement on X, positioning Solana as the “first major blockchain to record 100K TPS on mainnet.” However, the claim immediately sparked debate within the community about what these numbers actually mean for everyday users.

The TPS Metric: Theoretical Promise vs. Practical Reality

The controversy centers on transaction composition. Most transactions in the stress test weren’t real trades or token transfers—they were lightweight “noop” (no-operation) program calls designed purely to stress the network’s capacity. These minimal-instruction transactions don’t require state changes and serve as a stress-testing tool rather than a representation of organic network activity. Critics argued this distinction matters significantly. One community member pointed out that “current Solana traffic capacity breaks down at a few thousand TPS,” contrasting sharply with the 100K headline.

Mumtaz responded by clarifying that developers could theoretically achieve 80-100K TPS with actual transfers and oracle updates, accounting for signature verification and data loading overhead. Yet even with this context, the gap between theoretical and practical throughput remains substantial.

Solana’s Actual Performance: The Numbers Behind The Noise

Blockchain explorers paint a humbler picture. According to Solscan, Solana’s “true TPS” stands at 952 transactions per second, while including vote transactions, it reaches approximately 3,569 TPS. Both Chainspect and Solscan peg effective payment and application throughput at roughly 1,000 TPS—a stark contrast to the 100K announcement.

Chainspect data reveals Solana’s maximum theoretical TPS capacity at 65,000 transactions. While this remains impressive, Internet Computer (ICP), another layer-1 competitor, theoretically supports 209,708 TPS with a true TPS of 1,082. Both networks still trail centralized payment leader Visa, which processes true TPS equivalent to Solana’s maximum theoretical capacity.

TVL Recovery And Market Sentiment

Despite the throughput debate, Solana’s ecosystem shows resilience. Total Value Locked (TVL) on the network has recovered to approximately $10.343 billion, approaching the January all-time high of $11.989 billion recorded at the start of 2025. This recovery gathered momentum beginning in April, signaling renewed developer and user confidence. Ethereum maintains its TVL dominance at $89.62 billion, though Solana’s trajectory suggests growing adoption interest.

The network’s ability to handle meme coin launches—a key stress test for any blockchain—remains uncertain. When the Official Trump (TRUMP) token launched, the network struggled significantly, demonstrating that high theoretical TPS doesn’t guarantee stability under real-world peg meme volatility and traffic spikes. Community members worry similar meme coin mania could trigger another outage.

SOL Price Action In Current Market

As of the latest update, SOL is trading at $126.60, up 3.33% in the last 24 hours, suggesting the community remains optimistic despite market uncertainties. The recent TPS milestone, combined with Solana’s low transaction fees and improving TVL metrics, continues attracting users to the ecosystem even as broader market sentiment fluctuates.

The real test for Solana isn’t achieving theoretical benchmarks—it’s maintaining performance when the network faces genuine organic demand. Until then, the gap between headline numbers and practical throughput will remain a central point of contention.