Throughput and Scalability

Throughput and scalability refer to the capacity of an exchange or blockchain to process a large number of transactions per second. In the context of matching engines, high throughput is necessary to handle market spikes without delaying execution.

Scalability is the ability to maintain this performance as the number of users and order volume grows. In cryptocurrency, these factors are often limited by the underlying blockchain consensus or the centralized infrastructure of the exchange.

Limited throughput can lead to order queuing, latency, and overall market inefficiency. Achieving high scalability is a primary engineering challenge for both centralized exchanges and decentralized protocols.

It is a critical determinant of an exchange's ability to support institutional-grade trading volume.