Data Shows XRP Beats BTC, ETH, and ADA in Speed, Transaction Cost & Scalability

On-chain data confirms that the XRP Ledger (XRPL) outperforms prominent competitors like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Cardano in major blockchain metrics.

The XRP Ledger (XRPL) has consistently taken center stage as one of the most scalable blockchains. While its impressive capabilities have not made headlines of late, recently-surfaced data confirms the XRPL’s superiority to Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Cardano.

The data, sourced from on-chain metrics, compares XRP to Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Cardano (ADA) in terms of blockchain speed, cost of transaction, and scalability (transaction per second).

Speed

Regarding speed, data shows the XRPL boasts 3.6 seconds per transaction, representing the fastest among the four networks. Bitcoin can take anything from a few minutes to an hour to process a transaction.

Meanwhile, Ethereum boasts a better speed of 15 seconds to five minutes per transaction. However, this is still considerably slower than the XRP Ledger. 

Notably, speculations surfaced among investors that the Merge would bring a significant reduction in transaction speed for Ethereum. Nonetheless, the Ethereum development team debunked these claims, noting that The Merge only slightly improved speed.

Moreover, at an average of 20 seconds per transaction, Cardano’s transaction speed beats Bitcoin and Ethereum. However, it is still slower than the XRP Ledger.

Transaction Cost

The XRP Ledger also boasts an attractive transaction cost, with an average of $0.0004.

Bitcoin has the highest fee among the four blockchains at $0.8073 per transaction.

On the other hand, Ethereum’s transaction cost stood at a few cents. While this figure saw a slight reduction following the Merge, it remained significantly higher than the XRPL’s cost. Currently, the ETH cost per transaction has increased to an average of $0.47.

Meanwhile, Cardano’s transaction fee is usually contingent on the size of the transaction and protocol parameters. Fees on the Cardano network can range from $0.15 to $0.19. While this is lower than Bitcoin and Ethereum, it is still much higher than the XRPL.

Scalability

Regarding scalability, the XRP Ledger outperforms the other networks on the list. While data shows 1,500 Transactions per second (TPS), Ripple’s CTO, David Schwartz, recently noted that the network has never handled 1,500 TPS. He confirmed that the XRPL currently handles only 300 to 500 TPS.

Nonetheless, this figure is still higher than observed with the rest of the networks on the list. Bitcoin currently processes seven transactions per second, which is comparably lower than the XRPL.

Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s founder, claimed Ethereum could handle 100,000 TPS after The Merge. However, this has not materialized, as the network averages 29 TPS as of press time.

Meanwhile, Cardano averages 250 TPS at the time of reporting, significantly higher than all the networks on the list besides the XRPL. Claims surfaced that the Hydra upgrade could boost Cardano’s TPS to 1 million, but these have been debunked.