{"id":37498,"date":"2022-04-20T18:54:17","date_gmt":"2022-04-20T15:54:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/?p=37498"},"modified":"2025-08-29T17:44:51","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T14:44:51","slug":"what-is-the-blockchain-trilemma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/what-is-the-blockchain-trilemma\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the blockchain trilemma?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-text-wrappers-cards single_card\">\n<h2 class=\"card_label\">What is the blockchain trilemma?<\/h2>\n<p>The blockchain trilemma, or scalability trilemma, is a theorem that frames the central problem of scaling any distributed network. It holds that of the three core attributes\u2014decentralisation, security and performance\u2014a blockchain can achieve only two.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-text-wrappers-cards single_card\">\n<h2 class=\"card_label\">How did the blockchain trilemma arise?<\/h2>\n<p>Back in the 1990s, the scientist Eric Brewer developed the so\u2011called CAP theorem. According to it, a decentralised database (which includes blockchains) can have only two of three core properties\u2014consistency (Consistency), availability (Availability) and partition tolerance (Partition).<\/p>\n<p>Thus the theorem poses a dilemma: designers of a decentralised database must sacrifice one of the three properties to attain an adequate level of the other two. That threatens the long\u2011term expansion of the database.<\/p>\n<p>The theory was later adapted to blockchains. The creator of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, popularised the &#8220;blockchain trilemma&#8221;. His project was the first full\u2011fledged platform for decentralised applications. As such apps envisage unbounded user growth, Ethereum\u2019s throughput must increase without forfeiting other vital characteristics of a blockchain.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Blockchain trilemma and scaling Ethereum \u2014 Ksenia Zhitomirskaya\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VU3TIpYmASQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>After Ethereum, many other projects offered their takes on the trilemma: EOS, Solana, Cosmos, <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-polkadot-dot\">Polkadot<\/a>, Near, Avalanche, Terra, Everscale, Algorand and others. There is, however, no consensus approach yet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-text-wrappers-cards single_card\">\n<h2 class=\"card_label\">What does the blockchain trilemma entail?<\/h2>\n<p>Any blockchain has three principal properties:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Scalability<\/strong>. The network can increase throughput, that is, process a growing number of transactions per unit of time.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Decentralisation<\/strong>. The network operates without validation by one or several trusted parties. Put simply, there should be no reliance on a node or group of nodes that cannot be joined using an ordinary computer.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Security<\/strong>. A blockchain can withstand a potential attack by a significant portion of nodes (ideally 50% of all nodes in the network, though anything above 25% is a good level).<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/blockchain-2-1024x819.jpg\" alt=\"What is the blockchain trilemma?\" class=\"wp-image-103011\" width=\"768\" height=\"614\" srcset=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/blockchain-2-1024x819.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/blockchain-2-300x240.jpg 300w, https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/blockchain-2-768x614.jpg 768w, https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/blockchain-2.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>There are three sets of examples that illustrate the rule in different ways:<\/p>\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Traditional blockchains<\/strong>: Bitcoin, Ethereum or Litecoin. Each participant runs a full node that verifies every transaction. Such networks are highly secure and decentralised, but have low throughput.<\/li>\n<li><strong>High\u2011speed blockchains<\/strong>, including networks that use Delegated Proof\u2011of\u2011Stake. They rely on a small set of nodes (10\u2013100). Each typically faces high requirements\u2014expensive server hardware or a large stake in native tokens. These networks are performant and secure, but insufficiently decentralised.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Multichain systems<\/strong>, in which applications tie into different blockchains that interact via cross\u2011chain communication protocols. This is an example of a decentralised and scalable set\u2011up, but not a secure one. To attack, it may be enough to capture a majority of nodes in just one blockchain in the system, to &#8220;break&#8221; the usual structure and trigger adverse effects for all other participants.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-text-wrappers-cards single_card\">\n<h2 class=\"card_label\">How can the blockchain trilemma be addressed?<\/h2>\n<p>Two avenues for avoiding the forced trade\u2011off are typically cited.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Layer\u2011two solutions<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>These are add\u2011ons built &#8220;on top of&#8221; decentralised networks, extending beyond on\u2011chain activity. One example is Lightning Network\u2014a micropayments network for Bitcoin.<\/p>\n<p>Routine transfers on Bitcoin can be costly and slow, making small transactions uneconomic. Lightning Network was devised for small P2P payments and commerce. Users open channels; transfers between such channels are cheap and complete in seconds. Verification occurs first at the application level rather than on the blockchain. Layer\u2011two is viewed as a halfway house and does not fully meet blockchain\u2019s aims.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Layer\u2011one solutions<\/strong> <\/h3>\n<p>These are much harder to design and implement, but they have greater potential and modify the blockchain\u2019s architecture itself.<\/p>\n<p>Developers of various networks propose their own ways to address the &#8220;blockchain trilemma&#8221;\u2014using several interoperable blockchains, sharding, new cryptographic methods, and so on. Yet this does not mean the theorem\u2019s proponents are necessarily right or that the &#8220;blockchain trilemma&#8221; must be solved at all. In the end, it is an abstract construct, not a physical law.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-text-wrappers-cards single_card\">\n<h2 class=\"card_label\">Further reading<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.io\/kto-takoi-vitalik-buterin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Who is Vitalik Buterin?<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.io\/chto-takoe-airdrop-kriptovalyut\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">What is a cryptocurrency airdrop?<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.io\/chto-takoe-fantom\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">What is Fantom?<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.io\/chto-takoe-krosschejn-mosty\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">What are cross\u2011chain bridges?<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.io\/chto-takoe-ethereum-2-0\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">What is Ethereum 2.0?<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.io\/chto-takoe-dao-detsentralizovannaya-avtonomnaya-organizatsiya\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">What is a DAO (decentralised autonomous organisation)?<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.io\/chto-takoe-makerdao\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" title=\"\u0427\u0442\u043e \u0442\u0430\u043a\u043e\u0435 MakerDAO?\">What is MakerDAO?<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.io\/chto-takoe-solana\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">What is Solana?<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.io\/chto-takoe-podpisi-shnorra-chto-takoe-taproot\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">What are Schnorr signatures? What is Taproot?<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.io\/chto-takoe-binance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">What is Binance?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The blockchain trilemma, or scalability trilemma, is a theorem that frames the central problem of scaling any distributed network: of the three core attributes\u2014decentralisation, security and performance\u2014a blockchain can achieve only two.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37499,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"1","news_style_id":"1","cryptorium_level":"2","_short_excerpt_text":"","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2113],"tags":[2117,2115,25,277],"class_list":["post-37498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptorium","tag-101-altcoins","tag-101-technical-foundations","tag-blockchain","tag-scaling"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"123","promo_type":"1","layout_type":"1","short_excerpt":"","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37498"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37498\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37500,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37498\/revisions\/37500"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}