The Blockchain Trilemma – Can It Be Solved?

Bpadlock technology has evolved in a way that has surprised many technology enthusiasts. And it is no wonder why, since blockchains offer many important solutions for the crypto industry and not only. Furthermore, considering the number of improvements that developers are making to various blockchains, blockchain technology can play a crucial role in many industries with each passing year.

However, there is one thing that is bothering blockchain developers all over the world, and it is called the Blockchain Trilemma.

So what is it, what are the main problems it tickles and is there any way to solve them?

Well, the answer is maybe, but not entirely. But let’s take it one step at a time and find out more about the Blockchain Trilemma first.

What is the Blockchain Trilemma?

The Blockchain Trilemma is a concept that suggests that a single blockchain cannot achieve decentralization, scalability, and security at the same time. This term was first brought into the discussion by Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, who has also faced this problem on the Ethereum blockchain.

So let’s see what these three terms are and why it is impossible to get optimal levels of all three on a blockchain.

What is decentralization?

One of the first things anyone learns about blockchains is that there is no entity that controls the network. The data and power are shared between several nodes (computers) all over the world. Thus, it is reasonable to say that the blockchain is decentralized. Furthermore, the network is open to anyone willing to participate and gain a small percentage of control over it. Each user has access to all data on the blockchain.

Nevertheless, one of the biggest problems with blockchain decentralization is that only a few developers manage to achieve it completely. Furthermore, decentralization can negatively affect scalability and security, if not significantly reduce it. This can happen because when a blockchain prioritizes decentralization, spreading data across a huge number of computers means that transaction speeds and the overall security of the network will be affected.

What is scalability?

Scalability is a blockchain’s ability to support an increasing number of transactions per second so that all the network’s participants can have a positive experience on the blockchain.

Suppose you’ve ever wondered why some blockchains can’t have remarkably high numbers of transactions per second (Bitcoin can do an average of 7 transactions per second). If so, it is because they can prioritize security and decentralization, which can reduce the overall TPS (Transactions per Second).

It is possible that scalability may not be a blockchain’s main priority. Why would a network give one of the biggest TPS in the industry if it can be hacked at any time, right? However, the best case scenario would be to deliver a satisfactory level of all three primary blockchain characteristics. Yet few existing networks have managed to tackle this problem in a way that will yield significant results.

What is Blockchain Security?

Decentralization is great. However, a blockchain that achieved decentralization and lacks security may run into some problems along the way. And while developers like to think their project is untouchable, the truth is a little different.

There are several types of attacks that a blockchain can suffer from, and attacking such a network will most likely result in it losing huge amounts of crypto, as well as other problems, such as double spending.

Although the security of blockchains has surprisingly improved over the years, attackers have also worked on their activity.

Some of the most popular attacks that can affect blockchains include 51% attacks, sybil attacks, dust attacks, phishing attacks, and routine attacks. And each of them can cause huge losses for a network. Take Binance Exchange, for example. In October 2022, the crypto project was hacked and lost 2 million BNB tokens ($516 million at the time of writing). Furthermore, in 2018, Bitcoin Gold suffered a 515% attack and lost almost 400,000 BTG (more than $5 million at the time of writing).

Considering such attacks occurred over time, increasing a blockchain’s security should represent one of the main developers’ goals.

Potential solutions

The fact that the Blockchain Trilemma exists and affects networks worldwide is no news to crypto enthusiasts. Still, what can be done to bring the scalability trilemma one step closer to being solved?

Over time, there have been many projects that attempted to solve the Blockchain Trilemma. And one solution they found was to work with different consensus mechanisms. For example, while Proof of Work (PoW) provides a surprising level of security to the networks that use it, it lacks scalability, and Bitcoin is one of the best examples of this. Other blockchains chose to work with Proof of Stake (PoS) so that they can increase TPS, thus working with scalability. This has provided the ability to complete more transactions per second, but also came with a drawback: the lack of security. And this is how many blockchains found themselves in the scalability trilemma.

On the other hand, some recent projects aim to solve one of the industry’s biggest problems in a different way: gas-free technologies.

For example, Redlight Finance wants to provide a high level of scalability in a natural way through gas-free transactions. This way, the team can focus on achieving security and decentralization and constantly work towards achieving good levels of these two while seeing the benefits of letting scalability work “on its own”.

Final thoughts

Blockchain has brought significant benefits to the crypto industry and not only. These days, many other industries are planning to use blockchain in their strategies as well.

While blockchains provide security, decentralization, and scalability, one concept states that a specific network cannot achieve satisfactory levels of all three functions simultaneously. This is called the Blockchain Trilemma, and these days blockchain’s main goal is to solve it.

However, the projects that have already tried to solve the scalability trilemma found themselves in a situation where they had to admit that it is almost impossible (at least for the moment).

However, many blockchain projects are trying to tackle the problem in different ways so that they can after all contribute to solving the Blockchain trilemma.