Scalability

Scalability, in the context of blockchain technology, refers to a system's ability to handle a greater computational load without degrading other important properties, such as reliability. Scalability is often associated with throughput, the latter of which is typically more of a quantifiable measurement.

Several factors contribute to a blockchain network's scalability, including block time, block size, networking efficiency, parallel processing through modular designs, and more. Scalability is often cited as a critical hindrance to the mass adoption of public blockchains. In monolithic blockchain architectures, scalability typically has an inverse relationship with a blockchain's level of decentralization or permissionless participation; as scalability is pushed higher, the network's nodes are faced with greater hardware and bandwidth requirements, possibly preventing them from participating. Partly in response to this, some public blockchains have pursued modular designs, which rely on L2 scaling systems and sharded architectures to partition the network into segments so that scalability can increase with nodes only having to process transactions under their remit.