# The Difficulty in Scaling Blockchains: A Simple Explanation

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2103.01487 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.01487/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 2 Mar 2021.

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [Federated Learning in Chemical Engineering: A Tutorial on a Framework for Privacy-Preserving Collaboration Across Distributed Data Sources](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.16737/) (2024)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Blockchains have become immensely popular and are high on the list of national and international research and innovation agenda's. This is partly caused by the numerous interesting applications, combined with the promise of full decentralization and high scalability (among others). Keeping that promise, however, is technically extremely demanding and has already required substantial scientific efforts, which so far have not been overwhelmingly successful. In this paper, we provide a laymen's description of what may turn out to be a fundamental hurdle in attaining blockchains that combine scalability, high transaction processing capabilities, and are indeed fully decentralized.