A blockchain is a distributed ledger with interrelated blocks secured by a consensus mechanism based on cryptography. The breadth of the blockchain network and the complexity of the consensus mechanism used to verify transactions are also the causes of slowness on the blockchain. This is referred to as a well-known scalability problem in public blockchain applications such as bitcoin. To overcome this, a simpler consensus mechanism can be used, or to manage the extent of the distribution on a ledger network. This study discusses various strategies to increase scalability, especially those related to limiting the ledger network using side chains technology. A side chain is a secondary chain that is connected to the main chain and has a consensus mechanism that is independent from the main chain. One way is to limit the number of nodes in the side chain so that the transaction verification process can be accelerated. In addition, grouping active node transactions into side chains can significantly reduce the burden on the main chain. Another strategy is to use a simpler consensus mechanism for transactions with small nominal values so transaction speed can be increased. Each strategy has its weaknesses, but implementing several of the proposed strategies together will cover the weaknesses of the other strategies to produce an effective method to increase scalability.

1.
W.
Li
,
A.
Sforzin
,
S.
Fedorov
, and
G.O.
Karame
. “Towards scalable and private industrial blockchains. In Proceedings of the ACM Workshop on Blockchain”, in
Proceedings of the ACM Workshop on Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies and Contracts
,
Abu Dhabi
,
2017
.
2.
J.
Poon
and
T.
Dryja
,
The bitcoin lightning network: Scalable off-chain instant payments.
2016
3.
D.
Son
,
S.
Al-Zahr
, and
G.
Memmi
, “Energy trading marketplace using Ethereum private network”,
Doctoral Dissertation
,
Telecom Paris
,
2020
.
4.
C.B.
Weinstock
and
J.B.
Goodenough
, “On System Scalability,”
Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University
,
Pittsburgh
,
Pennsylvania
,
2006
.
5.
B.C.
Neuman
, “
Scale in Distributed Systems
.” (
1994
).
6.
Z.
Zheng
,
S.
Xie
,
H.
Dai
,
X.
Chen
, and
H.
Wang
, “An overview of blockchain technology: Architecture, consensus, and future trends”. In 2017
IEEE international congress on big data (BigData congress)
,
Boston
,
2017
.
7.
K.
Zhang
, and
H.A.
Jacobsen
, “
Towards Dependable, Scalable, and Pervasive Distributed Ledgers with Blockchains
,”
Technical Report
(
2018
).
8.
G.
Kaur
and
C.
Gandhi
, “Scalability in blockchain: Challenges and solutions”. In
Handbook of Research on Blockchain Technology
,
Academic Press
,
2020
.
9.
E.
Akbari
,
W.
Zhao
,
S.
Yang
, and
X.
Luo
, “The impact of block parameters on the throughput and security of blockchains”. In
Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Blockchain Technology
,
Shanghai
,
2020
.
10.
A.
Singh
,
K.
Click
,
R.M.
Parizi
,
Q.
Zhang
,
A.
Dehghantanha
, and
K.K.R
Choo
, “
Sidechain technologies in blockchain networks: An examination and state-of-the-art review
”,
Journal of Network and Computer Applications
,
149
,
102471
(
2020
).
11.
R.
Bhatia
, “Interoperability solutions for blockchain”, in
2020 International Conference on Smart Technologies in Computing, Electrical and Electronics
,
Bangalore
,
2020
.
12.
S.
Tyagi
and
M.
Kathuria
, “Study on Blockchain Scalability Solutions”. In
2021 Thirteenth International Conference on Contemporary Computing
,
Noida
,
2021
.
13.
R.
Han
,
G.
Shapiro
,
V.
Gramoli
, and
X.
Xu
, “
On the performance of distributed ledgers for internet of things
.
Internet of Things
,
10
,
100087
(
2020
).
14.
S.
Kim
,
J.
Kim
, and
D.
Kim
, “
Implementation of a blood cold chain system using blockchain technology
”.
Applied Sciences
,
10
(
9
),
3330
(
2020
).
15.
S.
Sayeed
and
H.
Marco-Gisbert
, “
Assessing blockchain consensus and security mechanisms against the 51% attack
”,
Applied Sciences
,
9
(
9
),
1788
(
2019
).
16.
A.
Back
,
M.
Corallo
,
L.
Dashjr
,
M.
Friedenbach
,
G.
Maxwell
,
A.
Miller
,
A.
Poelstra
,
J.
Timon
, and
P.
Wuille
, “
Enabling blockchain innovations with pegged sidechains
”, URL: http://www.opensciencereview.com/papers/123/enablingblockchain-innovations-with-pegged-sidechains,
2014
.
17.
P.W.
Eklund
and
R.
Beck
, “Factors that impact blockchain scalability”, In
Proceedings of the 11th international conference on management of digital ecosystems
,
Limassol
,
2019
.
18.
Y.
Bugayenko
, “
Zold: A Fast Cryptocurrency for Micro Payments
”,
2020
.
19.
N.
Rožman
,
J.
Diaci
, and
M.
Corn
, “
Scalable framework for blockchain-based shared manufacturing
”,
Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing
,
71
,
102139
(
2021
).
20.
H.
Jin
,
X.
Dai
, and
J.
Xiao
, “Towards a novel architecture for enabling interoperability amongst multiple blockchains”, In
2018 IEEE 38th International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems
,
Vienna
,
2018
.
This content is only available via PDF.
You do not currently have access to this content.