The Case of the Crippling CryptoKitties - Why Scalability is the Most Important Cattribute

The broad functionality of blockchain technology has propelled its application like a virus over the past year — in ways from the profound (like Bitcoin) to the eccentric (like CryptoKitties). Already large platforms like Ethereum and Bitcoin have periodically buckled under the weight of this mainstream activity, foregrounding the issue of scalability. Dragonchain’s unique, spectrum based approach to blockchain provides the flexibility necessary for true scalability and designated traffic flow — a key component in bringing blockchain’s natural strengths to the vast Enterprise market.

It’s Like Herding (Crypto) Cats: Blockchain’s Scalability Problem

CryptoKitties, dubbed the first “cryptocollectible,” offers an important glimpse of how mainstream adoption can affect public blockchain networks. Akin to a next gen pokemon or trading cards, it is just one of many future blockchain applications sure to emerge from the public imagination. The popular cat-trading game lets players breed and buy/sell uniquely “cattributed” pets with Ethereum transactions. A web based wallet holds these “pets” as they age, further develop their cattributes, and increase or decrease in ETH trading value like a popular baseball card (if the “player” attached to that card actually was the card…). Some CryptoKitties are already valued at thousands of dollars each for their prized features.

Since the game platform launched in late 2017, users have swelled in excess of 1.5 million, coming to account for up to 25% of total Ethereum traffic in peak times. The problem here of course, is that as both users and non-users of the game vie for miner preference, the capacity of available miners is at times overwhelmed. Much like waiting for an Uber at bar time, these moments of heavy traffic can slow speeds and drive up transaction fees dramatically.Consequently, In addition to a healthy dose of CryptoKitty-hating on social media by crypto traders, this has led to delays in planned Token Sales, coin distributions and other non-Kitty related ETH transactions because of network congestion.

Scalability is particularly crucial in the context of enterprise systems handling large volumes of mission critical data. In a commercial, financial or municipal context, overwhelmed systems translate into lost sales and crucial system downtime. When one considers that the VISA network processes an average 2,000 transactions per second (and far greater peaks) and PayPal clocks in at an average of 115 tps , compared to Ethereum’s most recent estimate of just 20 transactions per second and Bitcoin’s paltry 7–10 tps, it’s clear that current public blockchain solutions are inadequate for real mainstream application.

Dragonchain’s Blockchain Business Magic:

Flexibility & Scalability for Mission Critical Data