Coinbase-backed Ethereum layer-2 network, Base, has been achieving impressive transaction per second (TPS) throughput, according to Jesse Pollak, the Head of Protocols at the firm. In a post on April 9, Pollak reported that the network had reached a TPS as high as 300-400 with no issues. However, according to Chainspect, Base currently has a real-time TPS of 26.8 and a maximum recorded TPS of 292. L2Beat, a layer-2 ecosystem analytics platform, also reported that Base’s average TPS peaked at 37 on April 8, surpassing Ethereum’s 14 TPS.
In response to Pollak’s post, a pseudonymous trader named Wazz stated that if the observations were accurate, Base’s TPS could be comparable to the Solana network. Wazz claimed that around 60% of Solana’s reported 1,000 TPS were failed transactions, suggesting that the actual TPS was closer to 400. However, Mert Mumtaz, the CEO of Solana-based Helius Labs, questioned Pollak’s TPS figures, arguing that failed transactions were not taken into account. Mumtaz pointed out that the largest Base block in the data provided had a 94% failure rate, resulting in a real TPS of 41.
These findings come at a time of increasing tensions between supporters of Ethereum layer-2 scaling solutions and advocates of the Solana network. Solana has recently faced criticism for degraded user experience, failed transactions, and other reliability issues. Mumtaz previously attributed Solana’s issues to a specific implementation bug in the networking protocol, rather than a fundamental design flaw. On April 9, it was reported that several Solana project launches had been delayed due to network congestion.
Meanwhile, Base has experienced a significant increase in network activity, largely due to the growing popularity of memecoins. The total value locked (TVL) on the Base network reached an all-time high of $1.5 billion on April 9, representing a 235% increase since the beginning of the year. However, an in-depth analysis of new memecoins on Base revealed that over 90% of them had at least one security vulnerability, and 17% were found to be outright scams.