On April 13, 2025, Rosieum (@therosieum) dropped a fiery X thread that shook the crypto community. Titled “The Great TPS Lie: Crypto’s Obsession With Solving Problems Nobody Has,” the post calls out the blockchain industry’s fixation on sky-high transactions per second (TPS) numbers—think 100,000 TPS or even 1 million TPS—and questions their relevance. Let’s break down the thread, explore its insights, and see why it resonates so deeply.

The TPS Hype: A Meaningless Race?

Rosieum starts by highlighting the “Transaction Speed D**k-Measuring Contest” in crypto. New layer-1 (L1) and layer-2 (L2) blockchain projects frequently boast about their TPS capabilities, often claiming numbers like 50,000, 100,000, or even 1 million transactions per second. TPS, for the uninitiated, measures how many transactions a blockchain can process in a second—a key metric for scalability. But Rosieum argues these numbers are often “bullshit” because they’re:

• Rarely achievable outside controlled test environments (like an AWS testnet).
• Not meaningful for real-world applications.
• Unnecessary for actual human use cases.

To put things in perspective, Rosieum compares these claims to traditional systems. Visa, a global payments giant handling billions of users, averages about 1,700 TPS, with a theoretical maximum of 24,000 TPS—a capacity it has never needed in decades. Meanwhile, many blockchain projects struggle to attract even 100 daily active users. As Rosieum puts it, “If your Discord has more emoji reactions than your chain has transactions, you might be solving an imaginary problem.”

The Hidden Costs of Chasing TPS

The thread doesn’t stop at calling out exaggerated claims—it digs into the real-world consequences of this TPS obsession. Rosieum outlines several trade-offs that hurt users and the ecosystem:

• Centralization in Disguise: High TPS often comes at the cost of decentralization, a core principle of blockchain. To achieve those numbers, projects may rely on fewer nodes or centralized infrastructure, undermining the very ethos of crypto.
• Security Risks: Rushing to scale can lead to cutting corners, creating vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit. Rosieum calls this “security theater.”
• Engineer Brain Drain: Top talent gets stuck optimizing for synthetic benchmarks instead of building features users actually need.
• Deception: Many projects tout lab numbers that collapse under real-world conditions, misleading investors and users.

These points echo broader industry concerns. For example, Bitcoin’s scalability issues stem from its low TPS of about 7, a limitation tied to its decentralized design and security priorities A Deep Dive Into Blockchain Scalability. Ethereum fares slightly better at 15 TPS, but both pale in comparison to Visa’s 1,667 TPS average BITCOIN AND ETHEREUM VS VISA AND PAYPAL TRANSACTIONS PER SECOND.

Why the TPS Obsession Exists

Rosieum doesn’t just critique—she explains why this obsession persists. According to the thread, it boils down to two main drivers:

• Fundraising Needs: Projects need impressive-sounding tech to justify massive funding rounds, like a $100M raise. High TPS numbers are a shiny marketing tool to attract venture capitalists (VCs).
• Market Differentiation: With over 5,000 blockchains in the market, projects use TPS as a way to stand out, even if it’s a hollow metric.

The real kicker? User needs are often an afterthought. Rosieum argues that the focus on TPS is more about convincing retail investors and VCs that a project is “the endgame” rather than solving actual problems. This resonates with broader challenges in crypto adoption, where user-friendliness and practical applications often take a backseat to hype Top 10 Main Challenges of Crypto Adoption.

A Call for Practical Blockchain Building

Rosieum’s thread isn’t just a rant—it’s a reality check for builders in the space. The post offers actionable advice for projects to refocus their efforts:

• Build something that wouldn’t exist without blockchain, emphasizing unique use cases.
• Design sustainable economics that don’t rely on a constant influx of new investors (aka “new suckers”).
• Create user interfaces that don’t frustrate normal people—because let’s face it, most crypto UX is a nightmare.
• Scale for your actual use case, not for what sounds good in a pitch deck.

This advice aligns with industry discussions on blockchain trade-offs. For instance, in healthcare blockchain applications, experts note the balance between throughput and decentralization, where larger block sizes for higher TPS can compromise security or node accessibility Design Choices and Trade-Offs in Health Care Blockchain Implementations.

The Community Weighs In

The thread sparked lively reactions. User @samuel_tem84177 agreed, pointing out that projects like Monad and MegaETH are “trying to solve the same problems we don’t really have.” Rosieum replied with a meme of a tired-looking person in a library, captioned “EVERY,” reflecting the exhaustion many feel with repetitive crypto narratives.

@VictorLeeJW acknowledged the need for high-TPS chains but emphasized that “funding more DApps and actual use cases for user adoption matters more than ever.” Rosieum responded, clarifying that the critique wasn’t aimed at specific projects but stemmed from general fatigue with the trend.

Why This Matters for Crypto’s Future

Rosieum’s thread cuts through the noise in the crypto space, reminding us that real innovation isn’t about theoretical performance—it’s about building something people actually need. The TPS race might make for flashy headlines, but without user adoption and practical applications, it’s just “expensive performance art masquerading as technology,” as Rosieum puts it.

For anyone in the crypto space—whether you’re a developer, investor, or enthusiast—this thread is a wake-up call. Focus on what matters: usability, real-world impact, and sustainable growth. The next time a project brags about 500,000 TPS, ask yourself: What are those transactions actually doing? If the answer is vague, you might be looking at hype over substance.