Solana

Solana is an open source project implementing a new, high-performance, permissionless blockchain. Solana is a general purpose blockchain similar to Ethereum. End user applications as of now include decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFT), marketplaces, games, and more. It aims to improve scalability by introducing a proof-of-history (PoH) consensus combined with the underlying proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus of the blockchain.

Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko published a whitepaper describing Proof of History, a technique that would become critical to Solana's blockchain infrastructure, in Nov. 2017. 

Co-founder Greg Fitzgerald, who had worked with Yakovenko at Qualcomm, began prototyping the open source implementation of the whitepaper. It was published under the name Silk in 2018. 

After starting the company under the name Loom, Yakovenko, Fitzgerald, and other co-founders rebranded to Solana. Solana launched on Mainnet Beta in March 2020.

Solana was built to facilitate the development of scalable, user-friendly decentralized apps with low costs and high speeds for transactions.

Solana believes its unique blockchain architecture that combines the proof-of-stake consensus mechanism and its own proof of history mechanism is the key to achieving these goals.

Proof of history works almost like a cryptographic timestamp that proves that an event has occurred at a specific time. It enables the blockchain to work fast while maintaining security and decentralization.

There are about 304 million SOL in circulation as of November 2021. Solana has an initial inflation rate of 8%, which will decrease by 15% a year until it reaches a long-term inflation rate of 1.5%. SOL is Solana’s native token.

Solana competes with other blockchain platforms such as Ethereum and Avalanche to host crypto projects such as NFTs, decentralized exchanges, and gaming. 

Developers and users flocked from Ethereum to Solana due to high transaction costs, but many could gravitate back towards Ethereum if it manages to lower costs, which could happen as a result of the Ethereum 2.0 upgrade and layer 2 rollups. 

Solana.com
Docs.solana.com/history
Forums.solana.com

The following article is adapted from The Block's newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.

The Daily: Hyperliquid tests prediction markets, Solana-based DEX aggregator Jupiter integrates Polymarket, and more

On February 1, 2026, the Solana ecosystem was rocked by a sophisticated attack on Step Finance, one of its most prominent DeFi dashboards and data providers.

Solana DeFi Shaken: Step Finance Suffers $30M Treasury Breach

Arcium has launched its Mainnet Alpha on Solana, taking its encrypted computation network live as Umbra debuts a shielded finance layer.

Arcium launches privacy-preserving Mainnet Alpha on Solana as Umbra debuts shielded finance layer

Jupiter said Polymarket will be integrated on its platform, while ParaFi Capital has made a $35 million strategic investment in JUP with an extended lockup.

Jupiter brings Polymarket to Solana and lands $35 million investment deal

Through a built-in 'Prediction' feature, Jupiter users can now access Polymarket contracts without leaving the app.

Polymarket expands to Solana through Jupiter DEX integration

Solana's (SOL) price has fallen below the moving average lines after falling from the $120 level, signalling a further decrease.

Coinidol.com: Solana Faces Further Decline Beyond $95

The platform's governance token (STEP) plummeted over 80% following the announcement amid a wider crypto market drawdown.

Solana DeFi platform step finance hit by $27 million treasury hack as token price craters

The attack sent Step Finance's native STEP token plummeting more than 60% as the protocol enlists security firms to investigate the incident.

Solana DeFi platform Step Finance investigating $29 million treasury wallet compromise

Dogecoin

Ethereum

Ether, solana and XRP led losses across crypto as a wave of long liquidations swept futures markets, showing stress spreading beyond bitcoin during weekend trading.

ETH, SOL and DOGE slide 7% as $850 million bullish bets end up liquidated

Solana ETFs are pulling in millions while SOL's price falls—why are investors betting on the funds but losing faith in the race against silver?

Solana ETFs Hit a Weekly High as Altcoin Deposits Surge

21Shares has launched a JitoSOL-based Solana staking ETP in Europe, as debates over yield-bearing crypto products continues globally.

21Shares launches JitoSOL-based Solana staking ETP in Europe

Wisdomtree adds Solana support so investors can mint, trade and hold tokenized real‑world asset funds onchain. Wisdomtree announced in New York on Jan.

Wisdomtree Expands Tokenized Funds to Solana, Boosting RWA Access

Despite Solana's validator contraction, non-vote transactions have remained relatively stable at around 100 million per day.

Solana validator count continues to fall as vote transactions drop 40%

Both institutional and retail investors will be able to mint, trade and hold the tokenized funds on Solana through WisdomTree Connect and WisdomTree Prime.

WisdomTree expands tokenized fund access to Solana in multichain push

WisdomTree is extending the full suite of its tokenized funds onto Solana, one of its largest non-EVM chain deployments to date.

WisdomTree extends full suite of tokenized funds to Solana

Bitcoin

Crypto prices steadied as traders looked past short-term volatility with positioning shifting to the Fed, megacap earnings and a weakening dollar.

BTC, ETH, SOL move higher as markets eye Fed, Mag 7 earnings and weaker dollar

Cardano

Solana (CRYPTO: SOL), Cardano (CRYPTO: ADA), and XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) are trading relatively flat on Tuesday, with technical patterns suggesting imminent breakouts or breakdowns. Solana: $875 Million In ETF Inflows But Trapped In Triangle Solana's price faces two opposing forces: resistance around $135–$140 that repeatedly rejects rallies, and support at $118–$122 that continues to prevent deeper declines.

SOL, ADA, XRP All Testing Critical Levels—Here's What Breaks First

Solana's (SOL) price has fallen below the moving average lines, reaching a low of $117 after breaking through the key support level of $120.

Coinidol.com: Solana Recovers Above Its $120 Crucial Support

Silver perpetual contracts on Hyperliquid (CRYPTO: HYPE) hit $1.15 billion in 24-hour volume on Monday, surpassing Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) and XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) as traders use crypto infrastructure to bet on commodities instead of digital assets. Silver Dominates Crypto Exchange Volume The SILVER-USDC contract has become one of Hyperliquid's most active markets, posting roughly $994 million in 24-hour volume.

Silver Volume Surpasses Solana, XRP On Hyperliquid: The 'Largest Crypto Development Since 2020'

Sharps is increasingly framing passive staking rewards as a recurring cash-flow stream rather than a directional bet on SOL prices.

Sharps Technology posts first update on Solana staking income amid SOL price slump

The Solana ecosystem has spent the past year doubling down on a financial infrastructure, Backpack CEO Armani Ferrante told CoinDesk.

Solana's new phase is ‘much more about finance,' says Backpack CEO Armani Ferrante

As DeFi investors seek stable, uncorrelated returns, R3 is building Solana-native structures to bring private credit and trade finance into crypto markets.

R3 bets on Solana to bring institutional yield onchain

Asian equities pushed higher and the dollar stayed under pressure, giving crypto a firmer footing after a volatile week.

ETH, SOL and ADA slip as bitcoin fails to build momentum near $90,000

Solana treasury firm DeFi Development Corp. launched a meme coin on Thursday and quickly became the subject of insider trading allegations.

Solana Treasury Firm Blames Sniper for Suspicious Meme Coin Trades

Bitcoin's (CRYPTO: BTC) latest recovery attempt has stalled after rejection at a key weekly resistance level, increasing the risk of further downside, according to prominent pseudonymous analyst DonAlt. Bitcoin's ‘Greenland' Dip DonAlt said in an update on YouTube that markets have shifted away from clean, technically driven setups toward a headline-driven environment, citing geopolitical uncertainty linked to recent rhetoric from the Trump administration regarding Greenland.

News for Solana Crypto (SOL)