Ethereum: What would be the maximum number of transaction confirmations possible in a block with 100% segwit transactions?

Benefits and Limitations of Segregated Witness in Ethereum

Ethereum’s Segregated Witness (SegWit) feature revolutionizes the way we process transactions, improving the speed and efficiency of the network. One of the key benefits of SegWit is its ability to process 100% segwit transactions, which significantly increases the maximum number of possible transaction confirmations in a block.

Maximum Number of Transaction Confirmations with 100% Segwits

With 100% segwit transactions, every transaction in a block will be verified and included in a new block without additional confirmation. This means that every transaction can be confirmed immediately after it is added to the blockchain, resulting in a higher maximum number of transaction confirmations possible per block.

To give you an idea of ​​what this means, let’s look at some rough estimates:

• Without SegWit (100% segwit), each transaction would need 10-20 confirmation steps to be included in a new block. This will result in about 10^4 – 10^5 confirmations per block.

• With 100% Segwit transactions, every transaction can be confirmed immediately after it is added to the blockchain. This means that no additional confirmation steps are required for each transaction.

To put this into perspective, let’s assume an average block size of about 1 MB and a block time of 10 seconds. Based on these assumptions, we can estimate the maximum number of transactions that can be included in a block:

• Without SegWit: approximately 10^6 – 10^7 transactions per block (based on 10-20 confirmation steps)

• With 100% Segwit: approximately 10^8 – 10^9 transactions per block

How ​​many UTXOs can be updated by a block full of Segwit transactions?

UTXO updates, also known as “update blocks” or “block updates,” refer to the process of updating the blockchain with new blocks containing updated UTXOS (unspent transaction results). With 100% segwit transactions, any transaction can be included in a new block as soon as it is added to the blockchain.

This means that any update to a UTXO within a block can be included without any additional confirmation or processing steps. Therefore, the number of UTXOs that can be updated by a block full of Segwit transactions will depend on the total amount and complexity of updates in that block.

Assuming an average block size of around 1 MB and a block time of 10 seconds, we can calculate the maximum number of UTXOs that can be updated per block:

• Without SegWit: approximately 10^5 – 10^6 UTXOs

• With 100% Segwit: approximately 10^6 – 10^7 UTXOs

In summary, with 100% Segwit transactions, the Ethereum network can handle a significantly higher maximum number of transaction confirmations possible per block, and the number of UTXO updates per block is also expected to increase accordingly. It is important to note, however, that implementing full SegWit support would require significant changes to the blockchain architecture and underlying infrastructure.