BSV Scaling Test Network achieves record-breaking 13M transaction block

The Bitcoin SV Scaling Test Network (STN) is often the place where records are made, and where Bitcoin SV (BSV) continues to prove how the original vision of Satoshi Nakamoto allows for unlimited scaling. On May 6, the STN was the place where two new world records were set, and we reached out to Brad Kristensen and Steve Shadders to talk about them.

We came upon the world records when Twitter account Global Bitcoin Watchdog noticed an STN block with over 9 million transactions. Shortly after, that record was smashed by another block, with over 13 million transactions.

Update new world record (STN)🔥🔥🔥

Transactions
13,193,761

Total Fees
33.08037454 BSVhttps://t.co/VI800oXUgv

— Bitcoin (@cryptifyadvisor) May 6, 2020

Kristensen confirmed for us that both of these marks were record breaking. We asked him what this signals for the BSV ecosystem. “Bitcoin scales as designed,” he began, further noting that the 1MB block cap that BTC has stuck to for so long was never meant to be a permanent limit to Bitcoin’s scaling. “BSV is ready for real business use now, and we have a growing and public track record with the STN to back it up.”

His only regret is that we didn’t get to this mark sooner. “We’re doing what should have been done years ago, improving the software for scale and use and not messing with the protocol.”

https://t.co/52WAz64vZv #bitcoin #bsv I could see this block coming, but went to bed before it was mined. Waking up to see it with 143 confirms is nice. pic.twitter.com/fsPWa751KC

— Brad (@brad1121) May 6, 2020

For nChain CTO Steve Shadders, the record-breaking blocks helped the network by testing “specific elements of extreme load scenarios.” Shadders noted:

The STN is a tool for testing extreme limits of the Bitcoin network. Whilst this block wasn’t made under network conditions typical of the production network, it tested specific elements of extreme load scenarios. We are pleased to confirm that the Bitcoin software, in a globally deployed scenario, was able to handle this test with no noticeable service degradation.

We asked Kristensen to share some of the work that went into smashing the previous STN record of ~5.4 million transactions in a block. “Background updates to mining nodes were happening in the few hours leading up to the block, which means the time between this block (3220) and the one before it was ~3 hours, not the 10min average we would expect with Bitcoin (similar story for block 3240),” he commented. “However, these blocks still demonstrate that it is more than possible to have such a large block with the current software and not break anything, it also highlights areas we can still make speed gains on in regards to transaction propagation.”

But Kristensen was quick to note that another record fell on May 6 as well. “We also recently got a little bump on our previous sustained transaction per second (TPS) record over 8 hours from approximately 1300 to 1426.27 TPS.”

So what’s next for the STN team?

“Keep doing what we’re doing,” Kristensen said. “Reporting back to the SV Node team with feedback and discoveries with the goal of further pushing the software to new heights.”

He did tease a few things we’ll be able to look for online soon. He noted that the new STN website redesign is almost ready at bitcoinscaling.io. Otherwise, he’s going to be putting his efforts into encouraging more businesses and miners into trying out the STN for their own purposes, and testing how their software works on a heavily utilized BSV blockchain.