Imagine a 10,000-node network, where each node has to handle 1 billion messages per second. Firstly, if we assume a single VM can handle 1 million messages per second, it would require that each node rent ~1000 VMs (for a total of 10 million VMs for the entire P2P network), which they obviously can’t do without compensation. And if you introduce compensation, you need to pay the same fee to each node, which makes it inherently 10,000 times as expensive as a centralized network.
So the question is not whether it’s possible, the question is whether it’s worth it: in how many cases would a user prefer a system that’s 10,000 times cheaper, albeit requiring some trust?
Merchants all over the world are willing to accept VISA credit in exchange for goods and services, but they could — in theory — demand trustless payments in the form of international bank transfers, which are less than 10,000 times as expensive as a VISA transaction.