BSV Blockchain as Big Data Infrastructure: Distributed Consensus, Terabyte Blocks, and Billion-Transaction Throughput
Abstract
Public blockchain networks are conventionally treated as financial ledgers constrained by throughput limitations. This paper reframes the BSV blockchain and its Teranode architecture as a big data infrastructure: a globally distributed, append-only, Merkle-indexed data platform whose scaling trajectory follows established principles of distributed systems engineering. We present an architectural analysis of Teranode's role-decomposed pipeline, in which transaction validation, block assembly, and network relay operate as independently scalable microservices; a throughput baseline measured on a live test network under controlled load generation exceeding 105 transactions per second (TPS), with an engineering target of 106 TPS under zero-error tolerance; and a projection model, grounded in empirical transaction geometry (median serialised size 354 bytes, IQR 234-528 bytes, $n=11,000)$, that derives block sizes and annual chain growth across TPS regimes up to 109, where terabyte-class blocks and exabyte-scale growth enter the domain of scientific-instrument-class data. Merkle tree verification retains $O(\log n)$ complexity at all projected scales: 30 hashes (960 bytes) suffice to prove inclusion in a block of $6 \times 10^{8}$ transactions. Empirical cost analysis across 55,000 archival micropayment transactions (five providers, May 2025) tests whether structural pricing models-fixed-plus-percentage tariffs versus byte-priced fees-produce statistically different cost outcomes for sub-fivedollar transactions. MANOVA confirms a significant provider effect (Wilks' $\Lambda=.378, F(8,109,988)=8,625.14, p<.001$, partial $\eta^{2}=.622)$, with all pairwise comparisons significant and the theoretically predicted ordering confirmed. These results position BSV as a big data platform whose native unit of work is the cryptographically committed, economically settled, globally replicated data record.