Blockchain throughput has surged 100 times over the past five years, now equaling the peak transaction speeds of financial giants Stripe and NASDAQ, according to a16z crypto's 2025 State of Crypto report. The report notes that blockchain networks, led by Ethereum, have achieved 3,400 transactions per second (TPS), surpassing Stripe's 2,300 TPS and NASDAQ's 2,400 TPS. Despite this progress, blockchain still trails behind credit card systems, which handle 24,500 TPS, highlighting the technology's ongoing development phase. The significant growth in blockchain throughput is driven by increased mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies, advancements in layer two scaling solutions, and rising institutional interest in tokenization and stablecoins. These factors have contributed to the enhanced scalability and performance of blockchain networks, positioning them as competitive alternatives in the financial transaction space.