Author of the viewpoint: Shawn Tabrizi, Head of Engineering at Parity

In the pursuit of adoption, many Web3 builders have overly focused on a simple and enticing metric: transactions per second (TPS). Protocols tout numbers that rival traditional payment rails, convinced that pure speed is the holy grail for converting billions of users and large enterprises. While this is intuitively appealing, it is not enough.

Adoption and its prerequisite practicality ultimately concern capacity, not speed. While TPS is undoubtedly important, the real arms race is not about the fastest race car, but about a robust, efficient, flexible, and infinitely scalable mass transit system. Financial applications often require speed, but computation-based applications need rich, available block space. This is the vision of Web3 as the world's indispensable decentralized supercomputer.

This is particularly necessary in Asia, where traditional infrastructure has historically lagged behind North America and Europe, creating leapfrog opportunities through the right architecture.

The obsession with TPS, while well-intentioned, is fundamentally misleading. Goodhart's Law states: "When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure." Too many prioritize throughput at the expense of core blockchain principles such as decentralization, security, or the ability to perform meaningful, complex computations.

If a network sacrifices its inherent trustless characteristics or cannot handle the rich data and complex logic required for sophisticated applications, then a high TPS count for simple token transfers has little practicality. This is a raw throughput metric stripped of nuance, rather than a measure of real-world utility or computational density.

This stems from the core difference between viewing blockchain merely as a ledger and viewing blockchain as the world's supercomputer. A fast ledger suits algorithms, not enterprises. The bottleneck hindering Web3's promise is the scarcity and inflexibility of true block space—this is the best indicator of a decentralized network's complex data storage and verifiable computational capabilities.

Consider what block space truly encompasses. It is not just a quantitative measure of how many transactions can fit into a block; it concerns the qualitative capacity for meaningful computational work and complex, verifiable data. Advanced Web3 applications, including verifiable AI models, complex decentralized finance, and large-scale gaming, require a powerful computing environment capable of handling complex smart contract logic, large datasets, and secure, auditable operations.

Traffic engineers should not solely build the fastest Formula 1 car while neglecting comprehensive public transport and robust rail networks, even if they can. Our industry must move beyond pure speed and focus on true practicality and broader capacity.

The blueprint for rich block space is built on three pillars: parallel processing, security and interoperability, and complex computation. Multiple execution environments need to run simultaneously, akin to a multi-core processor.

This approach multiplies the available block space without compromising the core security of the underlying network, providing native, rich block space that organically scales with demand.

Security and interoperability are unified by design. Native, trustless interoperability creates a seamless, composable ecosystem where any application can access and utilize block space across different functionalities. Crucially, shared security across all environments ensures consistent, strong guarantees for each application, eliminating the complexity and security risks of bridging decentralized networks.

Finally, the third pillar is built on achieving complex computation through flexible execution. Multi-step logic and support for asynchronous and synchronous services are essential. This is vital for advanced decentralized applications that require more than simple state changes, fundamentally optimizing the utility of available block space.

The impact on Asia is profound. The region's cryptocurrency adoption rate is estimated at 22%—far above the global average of 7.8%—and Asia stands to gain significantly from this next technological evolution. Let’s look at two specific examples: tokenization and cross-border commerce.

With its rapid infrastructure development, thriving green initiatives, and a wealth of real-world asset (RWA) reserves, Asia is poised for institutional investment in tokenized digital assets. The compliant tokenization of RWAs, whether real estate, commodities, or demand, requires not only fast transaction processing but also a foundational layer capable of handling diverse transaction types, complex legal metadata, and stringent data privacy requirements.

Upgrading trade finance, logistics, and supply chain data flows across Asia's many legal and economic regions cannot be solved solely by high TPS. As a global manufacturing and logistics hub, Asia's multi-layered supply chains require dense, verifiable block space to store detailed provenance data, certifications, and compliance documents at scale.

In both areas, speed is important, but it is not enough. Asia needs a new economic vernacular that only rich, secure block space can truly provide, offering deep computational density and unwavering integrity.

Asia needs massive block space, and the region is ready for it.

Web3 builders have boasted about speed for too long, neglecting reliable, secure computational capabilities. This narrow focus must expand from TPS to directly channeling efforts into providing rich, secure, and composable block space architecture. This is the objective measure of scalability and practicality. Coincidentally, it is also the key to widespread adoption.

Truly effective and widely adopted Web3 will be built on advanced computational backbones, providing robust infrastructure to transform industries and empower societies. TPS may ignite our imagination, but the ordinary people and businesses of Asia will ultimately benefit the most from block space.

Author of the viewpoint: Shawn Tabrizi, Head of Engineering at Parity.

Related: Analysts say the current fear sentiment among cryptocurrency traders won't last long.

This article is for general informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Original article: “Viewpoint: The Real Arms Race in the Asian Blockchain Industry is Block Space, Not TPS”

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