Check the article at the bottom from one of Stakenet ($XSN) main dev on how it's possible to scale using Lighting Network and Sharding.
Instead of executing a “hard” or “soft” fork of the Bitcoin blockchain -a move that would be difficult and messy to accomplish- many have proposed implementing a second layer protocol to the Bitcoin blockchain. This is essentially what the lightning network is. The term “second-layer” means that the Lightning Network is built on top of the already existing Bitcoin blockchain, the LN is not a chain in and of itself. This network allows users to send their Bitcoin directly, without going through the slow and cluttered Bitcoin network. Some estimates indicate that if implemented correctly, the Lightning Network could support a throughput of 50,000 transactions per second, a number that is comparable to what VISA boasts today. The Lightning Network website boasts that the technology has the potential to support “millions to billions” of transactions per second, blowing away the max throughput of the competition.
Not only will the implementation of the Lightning Network drastically increase transaction speeds, it will also significantly reduce the traffic on the very congested blockchain. Since transactions will be supported through the second layer protocol, recording them on the chain is not necessary, so long as that payment channel remains open. As soon as the direct peer-to-peer channel is closed, the final balances are recorded on the chain. This will hopefully reduce the 300,000 average daily transactions that clutter the Bitcoin chain.
While Stakenet has already begun implementation of the Lightning Network into its protocol as a second-layer to power its DEX and Lightning Swap features, the research team is investigating Sharding to incorporate it into the first layer, as it’s still early stages of implementing Sharding technology in a blockchain. These two technologies will integrate seamlessly to create an incredibly fast, lightweight and virtually infinitely scalable network. Incorporating sharding will also allow the easy implementation of Smart Contracts through a dedicated network shard. Considering that these powerful technologies will be paired with the strictest of privacy protocols, the blockchain behind Stakenet is truly on the cutting edge of the industry.
