Jesse Pollak, serving as the protocol lead for Base, Coinbase’s Ethereum layer 2 network, asserted that the throughput in transactions per second (TPS) is notably high. In an X post dated April 9, Pollak highlighted the TPS throughput ranging between 300 to 400, stating that the network encountered no significant issues during this period.
However, despite Pollak's claims, data from Chainspect reveals a real-time TPS for the layer 2 blockchain powered by Coinbase at 26.8, with a maximum recorded TPS of 292. Layer-2 ecosystem analytics platform L2Beat further elaborated on the matter, reporting that the average transactions per second on Base reached a peak of 37 transactions on April 8, surpassing Ethereum’s 14 TPS by more than double.
Responding to Pollak's original post, user "Wazz" raised a point questioning whether Base was now matching the TPS of Solana. Wazz noted that approximately 60% of Solana's reported 1,000 TPS consisted of failed transactions, suggesting the actual TPS was closer to 400.
However, Mert Mumtaz, CEO of Solana-based Helius Labs, contested Pollak’s TPS data, asserting that failed transactions were not factored into the Base data. Mumtaz further stated that the largest Base block in the data provided showed 94% of transactions failing, resulting in an actual TPS of 41. These findings emerge amidst escalating tensions between proponents of Ethereum’s Layer 2 scaling solutions and supporters of the Solana network.
Recent weeks have witnessed Solana facing mounting complaints regarding degraded user experience, failed transactions, and other reliability issues. Mumtaz has previously argued that Solana's current challenges stem not from a fundamental design flaw, but rather a specific implementation bug in the network protocol.
On April 9, the launch of multiple Solana projects had been delayed due to ongoing network congestion. Meanwhile, Base has experienced a significant surge in network activity, primarily attributed to the escalating craze around meme coins.
According to DefiLlama, the total value locked (TVL) on the Base network reached an all-time high of $1.5 billion on April 9, marking a remarkable 235% increase since the beginning of the year. However, amid the frenzy surrounding new meme coins, an in-depth analysis unveiled concerning trends, with over 90% of new meme coins exhibiting at least one security flaw, and 17% identified as outright scams.
