Blockchain Bloat: What is it?

The blockchain bloat occurs as more data is added to it. The processing times of the blockchain slow over time since each node is responsible for storing and processing this information.

Blockchain bloat slows transactions because it adds to the size of the chain. Bloat can render the blockchain unusable should it get bad enough. 

When you have to wait hours for data to be added to a blockchain, you can’t use the blockchain.

There are worse things that can happen. If blockchain bloat becomes too out of control, some blockchain networks may raise mining fees. 

It is important to remember that miners use fiat currency to cover electricity bills, maintenance expenses, and cooling costs.

Users would certainly not appreciate higher mining fees and slow transaction times, especially when they occur simultaneously.

There are solutions to the bloat associated with blockchain technology developed by software engineers and architects.

Is it a real problem?

It is important to understand that blockchain bloat is both good and bad. Because the number of transactions on that particular blockchain is on the rise, this is a positive development. Any currency with more transactions will be adopted more widely in the long run since more people will use it. The main reason for the rapid growth of Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchains is that they have been connecting to far more users than any other cryptocurrency in existence.

A larger number of transactions also means that more data will be transmitted over the blockchain concerned. In addition to creating problems in storing all of this data actively, this creates a lot of problems in the long run. It almost becomes a necessity to use a large hard drive, which can pose quite a problem for network administrators. We expect to see terabyte-scale blockchains in the next few years given how these blockchains are growing daily.

A serious problem arises from blockchain bloat, however. Increasing block size is necessary to deal with bloated blockchains. In the absence of this, fewer blocks will be broadcast each time a transaction occurs. This is already a serious issue in the world of Bitcoin. Various scaling solutions, however, have been proposed to deal with this issue. There is no doubt Ethereum will face similar struggles going forward, and sharding may be able to ease some of those concerns.

The main problem with blockchain bloat remains until any of these solutions is integrated. Furthermore, bloated blockchains make it much more difficult to synchronize desktop wallets initially with the network. This process may take several days in the case of Bitcoin, depending upon how fast your computer is. The use of solid-state drives allows for faster indexing of blocks, but it will not miraculously reduce the synchronization process for everyone.

Furthermore, blockchain bloat will impact the transaction fees associated with the network. As block size space is limited, increasing transaction fees is needed to ensure that miners can pick up transfers quickly. Since the launch of Bitcoin, transaction fees have increased dramatically. Similarly, the gas prices for Ethereum have consistently increased. Therefore, there needs to be an earlier solution.

Is there a solution for blockchain bloat?

Block size increases have been proven to be the most effective method of reducing blockchain bloat. Using sidechain solutions is an alternative to offloading transaction information from the main blockchain. To minimize the amount of bloat generated by the process, Segregated Witness will remove transaction hashes from the main blockchain. One solution for storing blockchains decentralized is through technology like that provided by Storj. However, there is still a great deal of work to be done if blockchain bloat is to be reduced.

There are several solutions in the works to overcome this problem. Most of these revolve around either ensuring even low-end devices have the processing power necessary to run a full node by compressing the data. Among these solutions currently under development is Utreexo, but it comes with the downside that users can only keep tabs on their funds – which some might consider being an insufficient solution due to a lack of global consensus. 

The majority of blockchain projects focus on completely overhauling how they are stored and maintained. Minima, for instance, is a prime example. The platform’s blockchain is split into two protocols, the first layer being a secure but slow verification layer (Minima), whereas the second layer is a fast and scalable peer-to-peer transaction protocol (Maxima).

With Minima, a complete node (known as a Complete node) can be run by practically anybody. As a result, even the smallest devices can contribute to Minima’s operation and become equal participants in the network, since Minima’s blockchain is made of lightweight code. 

Now that there are a variety of solutions to blockchain bloat in development, virtually everyone will be contributing to one or more blockchain networks as a node operator soon. Moreover, the exponential growth in embedded systems and the Internet of Things could soon result in billions of potential nodes instead of the hundreds of thousands that we have today.