# New to SONs?

Bitcoin and Ethereum are slow and expensive to use.

Currently, Bitcoin can process only 4.6 transactions per second. The average confirmation time for a BTC payment is about 10 minutes. For context, Visa does around 1,700 transactions per second on average. On the other hand, Ethereum fees are extremely expensive and through the roof. Scalability is a serious issue for both networks.

Is there any way to overcome these problems? Sidechains may provide a solution.

If you’re new to Sidechains, then this is the perfect place to start.


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