Are cryptocurrencies ready to handle large number of transactions?

[Karl Semich]

> On Dec 24, 2017, at 6:18 AM, Georgi Guninski <guninski at guninski.com> wrote:
> 
> Are cryptocurrencies ready to handle large number of transactions?

Some are!  Bitcoin is not, but all this incredible growth incentivizes people to get a move on with regard to making it scale.

> Say if the database is 1000TB or more?

The bitcoin database is the historical record.  It grows at a constant rate and will not reach that size soon.

> Doesn't handling large number of transactions contradict
> decentralization?

Nope.  Ask the change in your pocket.

> Several days ago the BTC blockchain was about 150GB.
> 
> Heard complains that BTC fees are rather large and transactions are
> currently slow.

These two facts are unrelated.  But yes, bitcoin has more use than it is tuned for at the moment.  Devs are keeping it tuned down so that the demand will incentivize secure scaling improvements to the protocol.  Alternatively, use will back off due to fees and devs will have more time to improve things.

Other cryptocurrencies are not suffering this issue.

> With growing popularity the database size will increase.

The database growth is already maxed out.  More popularity will not make it increase any faster; it will just increase fees until the lightning protocol or segwit usage are mainstreamed.