Let’s start this blog with statistics!
Last year, global blockchain adoption reached $10 trillion in transaction volume. Despite this massive growth, developers still face specific issues.
Why? Building on the blockchain isn’t just about smart contract development or token creation; it is a complex landscape filled with unique challenges that developers often don’t anticipate.
From scalability issues to regulatory uncertainties, building on the blockchain isn’t as easy as it seems. Understanding these blockchain issues is essential, not just to survive but to thrive in the Web3 era.
In this blog, we’ll discuss the top blockchain development challenges and offer solutions to help you navigate them easily.
Without further ado, let’s begin with the blog!
Challenges in Blockchain Development & Their Solutions
Below are some of the existing blockchain challenges, along with their solutions on how to address them.
Poor Scalability
The scalability of blockchain remains a significant hurdle. While Ethereum’s transaction throughput is limited to approximately 15-30 transactions per second, financial networks like Visa can handle over 24,000 TPS. This affects the blockchain’s potential for widespread adoption.
Why It Matters:
As the adoption of blockchain technology increases, especially in industries like supply chain and finance, the demand for higher transaction speeds and lower costs rises. Without scalable solutions, blockchain networks result in risk congestion, increased fees, and slower transaction times.
How to Overcome It:
There are exciting innovations tackling the scalability issue right now, such as:
- The Lightning Network is a second-layer protocol built on top of blockchains. It allows transactions to happen off-chain and settle instantly. This means faster payments, reduced fees, and less congestion on the main chain.
- Sharding is a solution that splits the blockchain into smaller and more manageable pieces called “shards”. Each shard handles its transactions and smart contracts, which allows multiple processes to run in parallel.
Lack of Security
Blockchain technology is known for its secure nature. But that doesn’t mean it’s not prone to security attacks. In fact, in 2024, over $1.8 billion was lost to blockchain-related hacks and exploits.
Why It Matters:
Blockchain technology involves security risks. One minor coding flaw can result in massive financial losses and irreversible damage to a project’s reputation.
How to Overcome It:
- Smart contracts must undergo regular third-party audits to rule out all vulnerabilities and bugs.
- You can utilize platforms like Immunefi that allow developers to crowdsource security testing by rewarding ethical hackers.
- Another way is to use multi-signature wallets and time delays on critical functions to prevent anonymous access.
Regulatory Uncertainty
Indeed, blockchain operates globally, but its laws vary across different jurisdictions and countries. In 2025, over 60% of countries are still drafting or revising crypto regulations, which creates massive uncertainty for developers and entrepreneurs.
Why It Matters:
You might work on building a compliant blockchain product today, but there are huge chances that it may get banned or restricted tomorrow.
How to Overcome It:
- It is important to keep track of evolving regulations in your target markets. For that, you can use platforms like CoinDesk or The Block for updates.
- You can hire blockchain experts who specialize in crypto law. They can even help you structure your tokenomics and compliance approach.
- The other way is to consider regulatory-friendly jurisdictions like Switzerland, Singapore, and the UAE, which offer clearer frameworks for crypto startups.
Complicated User Experience (UX)
Let’s be honest – using most of the blockchain applications still feels like rocket science to most users. That’s mostly because of the complicated user experience. According to a 2024 survey, over 70% of new users drop off after onboarding gets too confusing for them.
Why It Matters:
No matter how innovative and engaging you build your app or the end product, if people can’t use it efficiently, it won’t scale. Wallet setups, technical phrases, and gas fees get too overwhelming for average users.
How to Overcome It:
- Consider using solutions like Web3Auth or Magic Link to let users log in with Google or social accounts.
- Let users interact with your dApp without paying gas fees directly.
- Most users are on mobile. Thus, ensure your dApp is optimized for smaller screens and fast interactions.
- You can provide walkthroughs or videos to guide new users.
Lack of Trust Among Users
Despite all the innovation, trust still remains a huge barrier. According to the latest survey, it was found that only 39% of people trust blockchain technology to keep their data and money safe.
Why It Matters:
Users today are still sceptical about leveraging blockchain technology. That’s because they have observed high-profile hacks and scammy crypto projects. And without trust, even the best blockchain solution won’t get adopted.
How to Overcome It:
- It is important that you prioritize security and audits, as users won’t trust what isn’t secure. If you are a newbie, consider working with a reliable provider of blockchain development solutions who can help audit your solutions.
- You can use blogs, tutorials, and Ask Me Anything to clarify users’ doubts about your project. This will help users understand, which will allow them to invest confidently.
- Show how your platform solves problems. People today trust value and not buzzwords.
Blockchain Interoperability
There are over 6,500 active blockchain projects. Each of them is built on different platforms with their own protocols, coding languages, consensus mechanisms, and privacy models. The networks can’t easily communicate, which leads to inconsistent security and a poor user experience. This makes interoperability a serious problem.
Why It Matters:
This lack of connectivity affects the user experience. If your assets are on one chain, but the app you want is on another, you get stuck. And for developers, it means extra work building isolated tools for each network.
How to Overcome It:
- Consider using cross-chain bridges that support cross-chain asset transfers.
- You can use Cosmos and Polkadot, which were built with interoperability in mind. They let apps interact across chains using shared protocols.
- Design your dApp to work on multiple blockchains simultaneously using SDKs.
High Energy Consumption
One of the major issues that comes with blockchain development is its high energy consumption. Today, the majority of blockchain platforms now use power, especially the Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism.
In 2024 alone, Bitcoin mining consumed an estimated 91 terawatt-hours of electricity. Isn’t that huge?
Why It Matters:
As the world focuses more on sustainable practices, blockchains that use a lot of energy are being criticized and closely examined. If the energy inefficiency of blockchains isn’t addressed, mass adoption of blockchain technology may go down.
How to Overcome It:
- Consider shifting to a Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism, which is far more energy-efficient than PoW. It may cut down energy usage by 99.9%.
- You can use eco-friendly blockchain platforms like Cardano, Avalanche, Tezos, and more, as these are designed with sustainability in mind.
- You must optimize smart contracts to reduce unnecessary computations and network load.
Skill Gap
Undoubtedly, blockchain technology is currently booming. But what about skilled blockchain developers? Well, not much! In 2024, one LinkedIn report stated that the demand for experts specializing in blockchain technology grew by 50%, but the supply lagged far behind.
Why It Matters:
Unlike traditional web or mobile development, blockchain requires an in-depth understanding of cryptography, smart contracts, and decentralized protocols. Hiring the wrong team or taking too long to find one can eventually delay your project or lead to costly mistakes.
How to Overcome It:
- You must consider upskilling your current development team with blockchain certifications or courses from platforms.
- Publishing your code on open-source platforms, where you can attract skilled developers to contribute to your blockchain projects.
- Blockchain development agencies often have pre-vetted experts with deep experience. They can allow you to quickly onboard talent.
Integration with Old Systems
Today, most of the businesses want to adapt to blockchain technology. But their existing systems weren’t built for it. Integrating blockchain with outdated databases, ERP platforms, or traditional APIs can be a significant headache.
Why It Matters:
If blockchain isn’t able to work with traditional systems and tools, businesses won’t use it. It leads to delays, higher costs, and failed pilots.
How to Overcome It:
- You can use blockchain middleware tools like Chainlink, Hyperledger Fabric, or others, as they can help connect blockchain networks to existing software.
- Instead of replacing entire systems, you can start small. Consider using blockchain alongside your current infrastructure and scale gradually.
Lack of Adoption
Even with all the hype, blockchain adoption is relatively slow. One of the recent surveys found that only 12% of global businesses use blockchain in their operations. But what about 88% of them? They are still experimenting or sitting on the sidelines.
Why It Matters:
Even the most impactful blockchain projects struggle to stay in the market without real-world users and use cases. Investors might not be interested and won’t invest in the project.
How to Overcome It:
- You must focus on real use cases and build solutions for real-world problems such as payments, identity verification, or supply chain tracking.
- Educate your audience and simplify blockchain concepts for non-technical users. Using webinars, blogs, and tutorials can help you.
Wrapping Up
That brings us to the end of this blog!
The above-mentioned list of blockchain adoption and development issues highlights the necessity of technological advancements.
We can’t ignore that the industry is working hard to resolve them. Blockchain adoption will rise even more if we work towards fixing these and removing these hurdles.
At Technoloader, we have a team of highly skilled and knowledgeable blockchain developers who are well-versed in the nuances of the industry. They identify all prevailing blockchain development challenges and have the potential to solve them.
Contact us, and let’s integrate blockchain technology into your business!