One of the most common criticisms of Bitcoin goes something like this:
“Bitcoin can only process seven transactions per second (TPS), so it will never scale globally.”
At first glance, this seems like a damning flaw. After all, Visa processes thousands of transactions per second, right? But this claim ignores key context, technological improvements, and—most importantly—the very different design goals of Bitcoin compared to centralized payment systems.
In reality, Bitcoin’s base layer was never meant to compete with Visa or Mastercard directly. It was built for security, decentralization, and trust minimization. High throughput was always intended to be handled through Layer 2 solutions like the Lightning Network—which already enables millions of fast, cheap transactions per second off-chain. And recent protocol upgrades like Taproot are steadily increasing what the base layer can do.
Let’s break this down.
1. The Base Layer Is for Final Settlement—Not Every Coffee Purchase
Yes, Bitcoin’s base layer currently processes around 3 to 7 TPS. That’s true. But comparing this to Visa’s 24,000+ TPS is missing the point. Visa transactions are not final; they’re credit promises that take days to fully settle behind the scenes. If you swipe your card, the merchant gets an IOU until the bank clears it later.
Bitcoin, on the other hand, settles with finality. Once a transaction is confirmed on-chain, it’s immutable and irreversible. That’s more like comparing one Bitcoin transaction to a $10 million bank wire—not a Starbucks swipe.
Bitcoin’s base layer is more like a financial clearinghouse or global settlement rail. It’s not where every tiny transaction is meant to happen. That’s why Bitcoin uses layers.
2. Enter Layer 2: The Lightning Network
The Lightning Network is a Layer 2 protocol built on top of Bitcoin. It allows users to open payment channels between each other, where they can send unlimited instant transactions off-chain. Only the opening and closing of the channel is recorded on the blockchain. Everything else happens off-chain, nearly instantly and for a fraction of a cent.
- Speed: Lightning can handle millions of TPS, far exceeding any credit card network.
- Fees: Most transactions cost less than 1 satoshi (₿0.00000001).
- Privacy: Lightning channels don’t expose every transaction to the public blockchain.
- Scalability: As the network grows, so does its capacity to route transactions across multiple users.
With Lightning, you can pay for coffee, stream micropayments per second, or send cross-border remittances in real time.
As of 2025, the Lightning Network processes millions of microtransactions daily and continues to expand into wallets, apps, and point-of-sale systems worldwide.
3. Taproot: Upgrading Bitcoin from the Inside
In November 2021, Bitcoin underwent its most significant upgrade in years: Taproot. This protocol change didn’t increase the TPS directly, but it paved the way for more efficient transactions, greater privacy, and more scalable smart contracts on the Bitcoin network. Here’s how:
- Efficiency: Taproot enables multiple transactions to be bundled into a single, smaller on-chain footprint—reducing the data load per block. This effectively increases TPS without increasing block size or sacrificing decentralization.
- Schnorr Signatures: This signature scheme allows for aggregation, making multisignature transactions (e.g. 2-of-3 multisig) just as compact as single-signature ones. This boosts performance and privacy.
- Complexity Made Simple: Smart contract-like functionality becomes easier and lighter on-chain, helping advanced Layer 2 features like Lightning and future rollups to scale further.
Taproot isn’t a flashy front-end feature, but it’s a core infrastructure upgrade that quietly enhances Bitcoin’s scalability and privacy.
4. Bitcoin Doesn’t Scale Like Visa—and That’s a Good Thing
Visa’s architecture is built on centralized servers and trusted intermediaries. You swipe a card, and they can reverse the transaction, charge fees, or deny access. Bitcoin’s model is the opposite: it prioritizes open access, neutrality, and censorship resistance.
To keep Bitcoin decentralized, every node in the world must be able to independently verify the chain. That means there’s a practical limit to block size and TPS on Layer 1. But this trade-off is intentional: it ensures that anyone, anywhere, with a basic computer can verify Bitcoin—not just big banks or corporations.
Scaling is achieved not by bloating the base layer, but by building smart layers on top—just like the internet does with TCP/IP, HTTPS, and web applications.
5. Real-World Adoption Proves It Works
Critics still point to TPS, but the reality is that Bitcoin is being used:
- El Salvador, the Philippines, Nigeria, and Kenya: Lightning-powered wallets are enabling real-world payments in underbanked regions.
- Online platforms: Podcasting 2.0, gaming apps, and streaming services now use micropayments over Lightning to monetize content.
- Major exchanges and wallets: Cash App, Strike, Phoenix Wallet, and others offer Lightning integration for instant Bitcoin payments.
These systems aren’t hypothetical—they’re running now, and growing daily.
Conclusion: Bitcoin Scales—Just Differently
The claim that Bitcoin can “only” do 7 transactions per second is a misunderstanding of how Bitcoin works. Yes, the base layer is conservative—but deliberately so, to preserve decentralization and trustlessness. Through Layer 2 solutions like the Lightning Network and protocol upgrades like Taproot, Bitcoin scales in a way that aligns with its values: robust, global, permissionless money that doesn’t compromise security for speed.
Bitcoin doesn’t need to be Visa. It’s becoming something much more powerful: a monetary foundation for the digital age.
Need help understanding how Lightning or self-custody fits into your strategy? Contact Apex Bitcoin Consultants—we’ll help you unlock Bitcoin’s full potential.
