@DigitalGoldTalk: Crypto Clarity Amongst Friends

Cardano is one of the most decentralized cryptocurrencies ever Thanks to excellent governance & staking design However, ADA should not be considered a serious competitor at a max capacity of 23 TPS... Promising scalability is not good enough for builders launching apps now! 🧵 Capacity: Transactions Per Second is an objective & equal measure of capacity that can be applied to all chains: ADA's TPS is calculated like so: The block size limit is 90,112 Bytes & a basic 1 to 1 TX is 192 Bytes; so, with a 20-second block time: 90112÷20 = 4505÷192 = 23 TPS! As TPS is a measure of 1-to-1 value transfers for the purpose of equal comparison. Much of the ADA community claims this is an unfair comparison: Batching: Because ADA can batch many TXs into a single TX by creating multiple outputs, some claim this means ADA true TPS is much higher. However, many major chains, including BTC & SOL, also have this capability... In BTC's case, Schnorr signatures enable this capability & while in SOL's case, it uses a fixed fee per signature regardless of the number of instructions (equivalent to multiple outputs) That is why, contrary to what much of the ADA community claims, this direct comparison is, in fact, totally fair Since, if we were count batch TXs, we would have to do so consistently across all chains, arbitrarily increasing TPS by a fixed amount across the board. So that still puts ADA way behind on a relative basis, no matter what Speed: Speed is another critical competitive attribute that ADA is lacking, as the latest generation of chains is now within a sub-second range! ADA's 20-second block time cannot possibly compete with this from a UX perspective. Making everything built on ADA feel sluggish in comparison Fee Markets: ADA completely lacks any sort of fee market, as TXs are processed on a first-seen basis, which is also why TXs are so deceptively cheap over ADA now That is because in ADA, TX fees are fixed by governance, not a free-market mechanism like in BTC, ETH, & SOL! This means that if there is a large spike in usage, there will be no way to prioritize TXs based on fee. This has the potential to bog down the entire network, as has previously also occurred on SOL when it lacked proper fee market mechanisms This also has the effect of making spam attacks on the chain much easier to carry out, as attackers could easily & cheaply block most ADA usage by congesting the chain in this way Hydra: Hydra is an L2 & therefore does not count towards ADAs L1 capacity, as it is literally off-chain. Every blockchain can have L2s, giving them theoritically " infinite" capacity; even BTC can do this... However, "L2 scaling" always involves major trust & or UX trade offs, making it a non-solution when it comes to L1 scaling. Even if playing Doom on Hydra is cool, it has zero relevance to this scalibility critique Leios/Input Endorses: Leios is ADA's real scaling solution now, as they have been working on this for the past 4 years Representing a significant leap in performance, both in capacity & speed. The exact numbers are difficult to pin down due to there being several levers. Such as how high will the community allow node requirements to become & whether they will prioritise speed or capacity If node requirements are increased & we take things at face value, Leios might be able to achieve 10K TPS with an average block time of 14 seconds This is all great except for that none of this is actually implemented now, that is what is at the core of this critique: Falling Behind: The truth is that the longer this upgrade gets delayed for, the more ADA falls behind compared to the competition Building DeFi on ADA today makes no sense, since you will be bottlenecked by the L1's limited capacity if your app saw any serious succsess That is why people build on SOL, SUI & NEAR, as they have the capacity to support massive usage right now, while still preserving decentralization, unlike BASE, OP & ARB for instance! (L2s) ADA's decentralization metrics are great, along with implementing on-chain governance. But none of that matters if you cannot build real products at scale. Since even if ADA's tech would be hypothetically better when it finally releases, it will not matter if the project has fallen too far behind & cannot overcome the network effects of the competition Competition: The truth is that even if Leios launched today, it still does not match the performance of the latest generation of blockchains. For example SOL & SUI are able to achieve 20k+ TPS with sub-second block times right now With further significant improvements near on the horizon Considering that there is no official date for the release of Leios & it has been continuesly promised & pushed back for over 4 years, there are good reasons to be skeptical of ADA's competitive edge here Talk is cheap, so until ADA actually ships a product that can compete with the current leaders in usage. I will remain a staunch skeptic Credits: Credit were credit is due, @Quantumplation offered to help me with this critique for the sake of accuracy. Even if he does not agree with my conclusions, there is no reason to get any of the facts wrong Pi Lanningham is clearly a very smart & capable CTO, who's work I have leaned on in the past as well. He is an asset to the ADA community & I would recomend more to follow his lead It was also intresting to learn from him that ADA is aiming for a more gradual roll out of new tech, hopefully cutting down on the waiting time between releases Open Debate: We will have an open ended debate on Monday, I hope you also all come & join me there. I have never blocked anyone on this platform, as it is only through open dialogue that we can advance the public understanding of blockchain tech: https://t.co/8DhQd1KK9a Conclusion: ADA will continue to fall behind as long as it does not scale! Dreams of an ADA future are a fantasy under the current technological regime We have to evaluate what exists now! Not blindly believe in the promises of what is a historically under-delivering project (only implementing PoS in 2020 & Smart Contracts in 2022 & governance in 2025) As a matter of principle, in crypto we must bet on what is implemented now, not in mere promises: "Do not trust, verify"! What exists now is a large community, with good decentralization & governance. The potential exists to turn this into something great. We only need to scale the system, so that ADA can attract meaningfull usage & therefore also affect real change in the world Whether that means pushing the boundries of Leios even more or adopting different tech entirely. For that reason, this is a discussion worth having As ultimately we share the same cypherpunk dream. That is why we should all want ADA to succseed, that is why we should want all decentralized cryptocurrencies to succeed. Because that is how we make ADA & all of crypto great again ❤️

It's Halloween, however I post not to trick or treat, but for the disaster stricken community around me in Hoi An, Vietnam. Please join in to help, either by donating or amplifying 🙏 We have been hit by the worst floods in recorded history...

I'm excited about this @DigitalGoldTalk Pod. We're chilling together for clarity, and moving forward with positivity for crypto. @SasuRobert @TheDesertLynx @vinibarbosabr will be joined by @Justin_Bons, as we discuss a bright future for L1 cryptos and their communities.

In a few hours this @DigitalGoldTalk episode starts Heard that @Justin_Bons is also joining us, which is great I'm optimistic we will make some positive steps here May it mark an end to personal-level attacks so we can have more productive conversations focused on the things

thanks @Justin_Bons and @Dexaran , that was a really insightful space. learned a lot about the ERC20 vulnerabilities, the long-standing issues Ethereum has kind of brushed off, and how that’s led to hundreds of millions in losses over the years. really wishing @Dexaran and

this is a must listen. @dexaran has been sounding the alarm on erc20 flaws since 2017 and everything he warned about is now happening over $100m lost later, the industry finally has to face it massive respect to @Justin_Bons for hosting a real discussion instead of another echo

Imagine warning ETH of a vulnerability in the ERC20 standard in 2017 Only for them to ignore & dismiss you, despite $17k already being lost Fast forward to 2025 & now over $100M has been lost! Hurting countless people That is the story of @Dexaran, who we will talk with today: https://t.co/9ToAUXDKG1

I believe this to be true

There are many ways to scale a blockchain: Reject excuses, as there are at least 3 methods that preserve decentralization now: Parallelization - SOL, SUI, APT & SEI Sharding - NEAR, TON, EGLD& SUPRA DAG - KASPA, IOTA, S & NANO One thing is certain: L1 scaling is the future! 🔥

Ethereum stagnation isn’t technical it’s political. L1 scaling halted to protect L2 profits. Governance captured, innovation stalled. Tomorrow @Justin_Bons talk with @Dexaran one of the earliest voices who warned about ERC20 flaws back in 2017. He was right then. Let’s see

Ethereum is captured; a consequence of bad governance That is why ETH does not scale its L1, due to L2 conflicts of interest! We will be speaking with yet another ETH whistleblower tomorrow; @Dexaran They ignored his warnings on ERC20 security in 2017 & time proved him right! https://t.co/9ToAUXDKG1

Beware of @DBCrypt0 DB cowardly continues to launch his attacks against me I can't ignore it any longer So, today we will have a DB-dedicated thread (he was given many chances to step back from this behavior - by me and by neutral moderators - only to double down on them) +🧵

Perfectly said In a world moving at light speed scalability is the highway and only the fastest chains will make it to the destination The future belongs to projects that build for performance not excuses

100% agree with Justin here. TPS defines more than speed, it shapes how dApps perform, how fees behave under pressure, and how scalable your ecosystem actually is. You can’t onboard millions of users on a network that chokes under load. $SOL, $SEI, $AVAX all proving

This so much! You cannot gain actual adoption if you can't use it when you need to... at the checkout without friction. This shouldn't be controversial.

Claiming that TPS does not matter is equivalent to saying a car's max speed does not matter... If a car is too slow to go on the highway, it is a pointless & uncompetitive product That is what dinosaur chains are today: Useless tech with no hope to ever play in the big leagues!

The most influential entity in the latest #MultiversX governance vote controls around 100 addresses, holding a combined stake of approximately 1.6 million #EGLD. Unsurprisingly, every one of these addresses voted “YES.” How do we know they belong to the same entity? Over the past

Hello Tezos, MultiversX and NEAR 👋 Time to learn from Solana (yes, really!) When @Justin_Bons started criticizing the latter, their community swarmed around him with positive arguments and hugs. Now Justin praises Solana. The lesson: Be more socially anti-fragile.

Much respect for that attitude this is what real dialogue should look like open honest and without fear when people can speak freely truth naturally finds its way forward

That was an incredibly insightful and educational space, @Justin_Bons. The open debate and exchange of ideas truly reflect what healthy discourse in crypto should look like. Thanks for hosting such a great session and keeping the conversation real and transparent 👏

Another @MultiversX special from the founder @lucianmincu They burned another bridge, this time it's @NEARProtocol They accuse @vinibarbosabr & @Justin_Bons of being paid by @NEARProtocol without any proof ofc In their view SOL, BTC, ETH and now NEAR are outright scams

Open forum for debate & discussion! Ask Me Anything If you disagree, debate me. If you have a problem, say it to my face I never blocked anyone on this platform, so all voices can be heard here That is how truth wins in the free marketplace of ideas:

Absolutely agree captain Most people are chasing quick flips without realizing they're sitting in the middle of the biggest wealth shift of our lifetime I've learned a few truths - Building or investing in real fundamentals compounds wealth not luck - Narrative chasing might

Too many are trying to "get rich quick" in crypto Even as the opportunity of a lifetime stares them in the face; crypto is the future! Instead, most gamble on meme coins or the lies of charlatans A diversified portfolio focused on fundamentals will beat that 99% of the time!

PoS is more decentralized & secure than PoW PoW requires warehouses of hardware that can be seen from space... PoS can be run from home PoW consumes more than countries; PoS is green PoW is for elite industrialists; PoS is for the people, as all can participate on equal ground

This is really funny @SasuRobert is telling everyone that @Justin_Bons is a liar and everything he said is a lie Then he proceeds to lie directly with his first point How can anyone still take these guys seriously ?

Sustainable communities in Web3 are built on the basis where honour and truth are exchanged. Individual attacks weaken the dialogue and stop progress. We must challenge ideas, not individuals that too with logic, empathy, and honesty. This is the way strong, vibrant, and

spot on. seeing communities normalize ad hominem attacks is a huge red flag. it just degrades the whole conversation and makes real progress impossible. real discourse is about debating ideas with reason & in good faith. that's how we actually build something meaningful, not by

@SasuRobert @MultiversX No, Robert. 1. How can you possibly say that you were "hinting" these things "for years" if in February 2025 you were "hinting" to the opposite, saying "nobody is talking about increase in supply." When rumors of a supply increase came from "Solver" you guys started to say he

In Web3, lasting communities are built on respect and intellectual honesty. Personal attacks weaken dialogue and hinder progress. Let’s challenge ideas, not people — through reason, empathy, and integrity. That’s how resilient ecosystems truly thrive. @Justin_Bons

Avoid any community that normalizes ad hominem (personal attacks) 🚩 Attacking the person instead of their ideas degrades all discourse; it is that toxic... Instead, embrace reason & debate in good faith! That is how the best communities are built, as the truth sets us free ❤️

this isn't just about $EGLD anymore, it's a lesson for the entire ecosystem. the details outlined here show how even a chain with potentially great tech can be completely undermined by rigged governance and terrible economics. pushing through massive, controversial changes

EGLD's governance process was rigged. This is how they did it: 1. Only give few weeks notice for the vote 2. Combine MANY MASSIVE changes in one proposal 3. Refuse debate & instead attack biggest critics 4. Do not abstain or disclose team stake 5. Block & hold "community" Spaces

this is a textbook example of how great tech gets ruined by terrible economics and captured governance while the rest of the ecosystem focuses on sustainable models, $EGLD's proposal doubles down on massive inflation, calling it "growth." it's a fundamental misunderstanding of

The proposal for EGLD passed; no surprise, given that most voted with their feet instead! This is how to ruin a crypto with great tech through terrible governance & economics When most try to reduce inflation, EGLD is increasing it & calls that "growth"

This hits different when you've watched DeFi protocols survive bank runs while TradFi collapsed. Cypherpunk thesis isn't theory anymore. It's provable infrastructure. Builders are shipping censorship-resistant rails that don't need permission or bailouts. The code shipped,

You’ve genuinely changed my perspective. @Justin_Bons 🫡 I used to see decentralization as the ultimate goal, but you’re right it’s really a means to something greater. ➞ What truly matters is freedom, censorship resistance, and individual sovereignty. • The real challenge

Once again, @Justin_Bons captures what many forget: decentralization isn’t a slogan, it’s an engineering principle. It’s how we build systems that don’t just work, but endure. Fairness, security, and freedom aren’t side effects; they’re the design goals. That’s the real

Decentralization is not just ideological; it is practical We can build more resilient, secure & fair systems for money, governance & finance! Changing human civilization for the better, that is the cypherpunk dream: Tech that empowers humanity by unleashing the free market! 🔥