Complex applications such as decentralized derivatives, options trading, and the latest AI tools and yield farming protocols have many advantages, such as greater user control over assets and participation in governance, but they require a certain standard of the underlying infrastructure. NFTs’ application beyond digital art and collectibles has grown, as has the popularity of tokenizing physical assets such as real estate and art.
Blockchains feature exciting new applications like tokenized uranium. The integration between blockchain and the Internet of Things (IoT) has given rise to smart apps, improving data reliability in smart cities, logistics, and industrial automation. 2025’s growth cycle may witness wider adoption of Web3 powered by consumer apps developed in highly scalable environments and distributed to more users. The main catalysts of these developments are crypto-friendlier regulations and, to a greater extent, advanced blockchain infrastructure.
Blockchain speed is a key consideration in terms of supporting the latest apps. Factors like block size, network congestion, fees, and block time all play a role in transaction speed. Cronos is emerging as one of the fastest blockchains after the launch of its EVM v1.4.0 Pallene upgrade, which supports up to 60,000 transactions per second (TPS) and boosts transaction execution by up to 600x via Block-STM technology. This milestone positions Cronos as a very suitable host of next-gen applications, including Web3 gaming, DeFi, and AI-driven tools. The chain has almost caught up with Solana, which theoretically supports 65,000 TPS.
Sonic, formerly Fantom, is one of the 20 fastest blockchains, achieving over 1,400 TPS in real-time. Comparatively, Solana achieves 1,220 TPS. Sonic is an L1, EVM-compatible blockchain with attractive incentives for developers and robust infrastructure. Its maximum speed is reported as 10,000 TPS at one-second finality. The cutting-edge consensus mechanism and emphasis on developer experience have made it a popular choice for dApps, particularly DeFi protocols. Sonic’s low latency, coupled with its ability to handle a high transaction volume, makes it ideal for tokenizing real-world assets. To this end, the chain recently facilitated a key partnership with Backed, Chainlink, and Fortlake Asset Management to tokenize Fortlake’s Sigma Opportunities Fund, bringing traditional assets on-chain. Sigma Fund is the first to adopt a Tokenization-as-a-Service platform.
Next-gen applications, especially gaming platforms, social networks, and financial services, require quick and seamless interactions. Long transaction times frustrate users and hinder adoption. The latest apps demand real-time or near-real-time performance, and slow block times can render them impractical.
As more users are onboarded to Web3, the number of transactions increases correspondingly, and high speeds ensure that networks can handle the ensuing traffic without congestion. Millions of micro-transactions and asset transfers occur in real-time, requiring fast blockchain support.
Decentralized autonomous organizations, IoT integrations, and multichain ecosystems rely on fast processing to coordinate complex operations efficiently. Faster execution of smart contracts is critical for decentralized exchanges, automated market makers, and lending platforms to deliver competitive and reliable services.
By processing more transactions per second, fast blockchains reduce competition among users for limited block space. This results in lower transaction fees, making the platform more attractive for users and developers. Finally, speed supports seamless interactions between blockchains, enabling advanced use cases like new iterations of cross-chain DeFi.
Blockchains promote many unexpected use cases, and high speeds are a key advantage. For example, Ujo Music turned to blockchain to ensure fair compensation for musicians, while Siemens partnered with the Brooklyn Microgrid app to allow Brooklyn residents who own solar panels to transfer their energy to their neighbors. In a significant milestone in real-world asset tokenization, the ultra-fast blockchain Tezos introduced Uranium.io, the first blockchain-based dApp for uranium trading, which aims to lower entry barriers for investors. The platform will partner with Archax, the first registered cryptocurrency exchange in the UK, and Curzon Uranium, a leading uranium trading company whose trading volume exceeds $1 billion. Uranium.io presents new opportunities for retail investors. Only institutional investors with large amounts of capital have been able to trade uranium so far, and retail access to the naturally occurring radioactive element was possible exclusively through exchange-traded funds. The development is driven by a growing demand for nuclear energy as a low-emission alternative for powering AI protocols.
Tezos is at the forefront of blockchain research, with recent upgrades focusing on scaling solutions such as Smart Rollups, which have enabled a theoretical speed of up to a million TPS. With the advent of next-gen apps, this inspiring development gives hope that the limit to blockchain speeds will only be the imagination.
