> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://envida-protocol.gitbook.io/envida/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://envida-protocol.gitbook.io/envida/blockchain-architecture/scalability.md).

# Scalability

One blockchain isn’t enough to support a bustling future of decentralized applications. The limited throughput and lack of runtime specialization in early blockchains made them impractical for scaling in many real-world use cases. By bridging multiple specialized chains together into one sharded network, Polkadot allows for multiple transactions to be processed in parallel. This system removes the bottlenecks that occurred on earlier networks that processed transactions one-by-one. Polkadot will be able to scale even further in the future with a planned feature known as nested relay chains, which will increase the number of shards that can be added to the network.

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