When you hear blockchain technology, a distributed digital ledger that records transactions across many computers so that any involved record cannot be altered retroactively. Also known as distributed ledger technology, it’s the backbone of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and thousands of other digital systems that don’t need banks to verify deals. It’s not magic—it’s code, cryptography, and consensus. Every transaction gets grouped into a block, a container of verified transactions that gets added to the chain in chronological order, and every block links to the one before it. That’s what makes tampering nearly impossible. But here’s the catch: how big those blocks are changes everything.
Block size, the maximum amount of data a single block can hold isn’t just a technical detail—it’s a trade-off between speed and fairness. Bigger blocks mean more transactions per second, which sounds great until you realize only big companies can afford the servers needed to run the network. Smaller blocks keep things decentralized—anyone with a regular laptop can join—but they cause delays and spike fees when the network gets busy. This isn’t theoretical. Bitcoin’s 1MB limit caused months of backlogs in 2017, with fees hitting $50 per transaction. Ethereum’s solution? Different architecture. Bitcoin Cash went bigger. Each path has trade-offs.
What most people miss is that blockchain scalability, the ability to handle growing numbers of transactions without slowing down or becoming too expensive isn’t just about block size. It’s about how the whole system is built. Layer-2 networks, sharding, off-chain processing—these are the real tools that fix scaling without sacrificing decentralization. The posts below break down exactly how these work, why some solutions fail, and which ones actually deliver on their promises. You’ll find clear breakdowns of real-world performance numbers, what happens when networks get congested, and how to tell if a blockchain is truly scalable—or just pretending to be. No fluff. Just facts you can use.
Block size directly controls how many transactions a blockchain can process at once. Larger blocks mean faster speeds but risk centralization. Smaller blocks keep networks decentralized but cause delays and high fees. The real solution isn't just bigger blocks-it's smarter scaling.