<blockquote>
  <p>Given that Bitcoin has a 1mb block size limit (approx. 2k transactions
  processed every 10 minutes), would I be correct in saying that as soon
  as the world will start using BitCoin more frequently to do what
  currency is intended for, purchasing of goods and services, then the
  number of transactions will be so large that the backlog will flood
  the system?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Maybe, maybe not. As transaction volume increases, since there is a limited supply of block space, users must compete for block space by increasing their fee rate in <code>satoshis/kB</code>. This might lead users to try to utilize less space by consolidate multiple transactions for example, or utilizing methods like segregated witness. It might also lead to off-chain transactions for small items that do not need to be broadcast to the blockchain if they are part of a group of many transactions over time.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Is there a possibility to enhance Bitcoin nodes so as to increase
  Bitcoin's block size?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>This would require consensus from the network. Also, there are trade offs for increasing block size, so it is not necessarily an enhancement to do so. With larger blocks, propagation delay within the network and validation time becomes a problem and fork rate increases. It could also lead to miner centralization because they have the network resources and computing power to mine, transmit, and verify blocks more quickly. so unlimited block size increase is not considered a good scaling solution.</p>

<p>There are many potential improvements that can be made to help Bitcoin scale such as increasing full node efficiency: e.g. signature checking, block validation, etc. and off-chain transaction networks such as the <a href="https://lightning.network/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">lightning network</a>.</p>

<p>See <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin_scalability_problem" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin_scalability_problem</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-09-18T21:27:11.363Z
np. Also see https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Block_size_limit_controversy#Arguments_in_opposition_to_increasing_the_blocksize
JBaczuk
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-09-18T19:26:43.477Z
2018-09-22T19:49:24.703Z
2018-09-22T19:49:24.703Z
JBaczuk
<p>Given that Bitcoin has a 1 MB block size limit (approx. 2k transactions processed every 10 minutes), would I be correct in saying that as soon as the world will start using Bitcoin more frequently to do what currency is intended for, purchasing of goods and services, then the number of transactions will be so large that the backlog will flood the system? Is there a possibility to enhance Bitcoin nodes so as to increase Bitcoin's block size?</p>

<scalability><block-size-increase>
Block Size Hurdle
David Vella
# Block Size Hurdle

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-09-18)

Given that Bitcoin has a 1 MB block size limit (approx. 2k transactions processed every 10 minutes), would I be correct in saying that as soon as the world will start using Bitcoin more frequently to do what currency is intended for, purchasing of goods and services, then the number of transactions will be so large that the backlog will flood the system? Is there a possibility to enhance Bitcoin nodes so as to increase Bitcoin's block size?

**Tags:** scalability, block-size-increase


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-09-18. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

> Given that Bitcoin has a 1mb block size limit (approx. 2k transactions
> processed every 10 minutes), would I be correct in saying that as soon
> as the world will start using BitCoin more frequently to do what
> currency is intended for, purchasing of goods and services, then the
> number of transactions will be so large that the backlog will flood
> the system?

Maybe, maybe not. As transaction volume increases, since there is a limited supply of block space, users must compete for block space by increasing their fee rate in `satoshis/kB`. This might lead users to try to utilize less space by consolidate multiple transactions for example, or utilizing methods like segregated witness. It might also lead to off-chain transactions for small items that do not need to be broadcast to the blockchain if they are part of a group of many transactions over time.

> Is there a possibility to enhance Bitcoin nodes so as to increase
> Bitcoin's block size?

This would require consensus from the network. Also, there are trade offs for increasing block size, so it is not necessarily an enhancement to do so. With larger blocks, propagation delay within the network and validation time becomes a problem and fork rate increases. It could also lead to miner centralization because they have the network resources and computing power to mine, transmit, and verify blocks more quickly. so unlimited block size increase is not considered a good scaling solution.

There are many potential improvements that can be made to help Bitcoin scale such as increasing full node efficiency: e.g. signature checking, block validation, etc. and off-chain transaction networks such as the [lightning network](https://lightning.network/).

See <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin_scalability_problem>

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: np. Also see https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Block_size_limit_controversy#Arguments_in_opposition_to_increasing_the_blocksize  

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