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

Value locked on the blockchain's applications has more than doubled since November.

Solana Nears $100 as Meme Coin Frenzy Continues to Drive Rally

Ethereum

Solana (SOL) has achieved a significant milestone by surpassing Ethereum (ETH) in terms of decentralized exchange (DEX) trading volume over the past week.

Solana's DeFi DEX Volume Surpasses Ethereum's For the First Time

Avalanche

Avalanche (CRYPTO: AVAX) and Solana (CRYPTO: SOL), have surpassed Dogecoin (DOGE) and Binance Coin (CRYPTO: BNB) in market capitalization respectively, according to data by CoinMarketCap. What Happened: AVAX on Thursday surged over 16%, while SOL increased 8% in the last 24 hours.

Dogecoin Swept By Avalanche, And Solana Surpasses Binance's Native Token To Claim 4th Largest Market Cap

Solana prices have shown some serious strength lately, rallying to their highest level since April 2022 as the network benefits from substantial activity and strong interest in memecoins.

Solana Prices Surge To Roughly 20-Month High Amid Robust Network Activity

Bitcoin

Crypto analytics firm Santiment is warning about Solana (SOL) and two other altcoins based on one key metric. The firm says that the discussions of Solana on social media platforms are soaring, which often signals a market top.

‘Take a Cautious Approach' – Santiment Issues Warning on Solana, NEAR Protocol and One Bitcoin Ecosystem Altcoin

A bold Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) trader turned a measly $92 (1.5 SOL) into a staggering $1.55 million within 16 days, showcasing the potential for explosive gains in the memecoin realm. What Happened: Lookonchain, a blockchain analytics platform, unveiled the details of this feat in a series of Tweets, providing a glimpse into the risky, yet potentially lucrative world of high-stakes crypto trading.

Memecoin Madness: Solana Degen Turns $92 Into $1.5M In 16 Days Trading Silly Token, Can You Repeat This Dream?

Frenzied trading on meme coins like BONK and Dogwifhat have helped push activity on Solana's decentralized exchanges to the top

Meme Coin Mania Helps Push Solana DeFi Volume Over Ethereum for First Time

Bitcoin and Ethereum are mostly flat today but, Solana (SOL) and tokens that run on its network continue to rise in price.

Solana Up 12% and Dogwifhat Surges as Bitcoin Dips Under $44K

Research firm Messari published its latest Crypto Theses report, and it paints a vibrant picture of optimism for certain digital assets, as well as excitement surrounding artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tokens. Messari analysts emphasized Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) as "digital gold" and highlighted its growing appeal to institutional investors.

Messari Is Bullish On Bitcoin And Solana, But Cautious On Ethereum: What About AI?

Bitcoin BTC , alongside other major cryptocurrencies ethereum, XRP XRP and solana, have surged as traders brace for a massive Wall Street game-changer.

China Has Quietly Flipped On Crypto Amid The Huge $1.6 Trillion Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP And Solana Price Surge

Bonk

BONK (CRYPTO: BONK), a relatively new dog-themed cryptocurrency, has surged almost 1,000% in just a matter of weeks as the broader Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) ecosystem gains momentum. What Happened: Analysts, however, are warning that late investors in BONK are being punished as the coin suffers from significant volatility.

Solana's Meme Coin Drops From All-Time Highs By Over 40%: Analyst Says 'Late Bulls Punished On BONK'

What to watch for in 2024, according to market analysts.

Solana, Avax, Helium Led Digital Assets Gains This Year. What's Next?

Trezor, a leading manufacturer of web3 hardware wallets, has expanded its support to include two new tokens: Solana (SOL) and Solana Program Library (SPL) tokens.

Trezor Wallet Now Supports Solana and SPL Tokens

New projects, airdrops, high total value locked and a rapidly growing investor interest have enabled Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) to capture the fifth position in top cryptocurrencies by valuation. What Happened: Solana reported on Wednesday a surge in its valuation to $35.5 billion, ahead of XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) which currently stands at $33.8 billion.

Solana Rallies 12% Amidst Winning The Race For Fifth Place Crypto Token, 'Solana Is The Future Of Crypto' Says One Expert

Recently, the smart contract platform tokens solana (SOL) and avalanche (AVAX), both considered layer one (L1) crypto assets, have been narrowing the gap with ethereum (ETH), the most prominent smart contract platform in terms of market valuation. Over the past month, solana has experienced a 42% surge, while avalanche has soared by 104%.

Smart Contract Tokens Solana and Avalanche Surge, Closing in on BNB and Ethereum

Solana (SOL) is outpacing gains by Bitcoin and Ethereum, surging above $80 on Wednesday as its recent hot streak continues.

Solana Flips XRP as SOL Hits Another Yearly High

Solana has overtaken XRP as the fifth-largest cryptocurrency, with its market cap hitting a 20-month high of $33.7 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Solana Leapfrogs XRP as Fifth-Largest Crypto, Spurred by Meme Coin Mania

Crypto hardware manufacturer Trezor added support for Solana and Solana Program Library (SPL) tokens amid a price rally for SOL.

Trezor hardware wallets add support for Solana and SPL tokens

Pseudonymous cryptocurrency analyst Bluntz said on Tuesday that Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) is expected to break out against Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) soon, with its U.S. dollar pair likely to see significant rallies if this happens. What Happened: Bluntz believes it is only a matter of time before the 37-day range breaks, and when it does, “Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) killer” Solana's price is expected to soar.

Crypto Analyst Predicts This 'Ethereum Killer' Is Going To 'Gigasend,' Warns Against 'Bear Posters Fam'

Chainlink

A crypto analyst who accurately called the bottom of the 2018 Bitcoin (BTC) bear market is flipping bullish on an altcoin running on the Ethereum (ETH) network. Pseudonymous analyst Bluntz tells his 232,400 followers on the social media platform X that Chainlink (LINK) is flashing multiple bullish reversal signals on the eight-hour chart.

Top Crypto Analyst Predicts Nearly 40% Rally for Ethereum-Based Altcoin, Updates Outlook on Solana

A popular crypto analyst is predicting market corrections for Solana (SOL) and another one of Ethereum's (ETH) biggest competitors. Pseudonymous trader Altcoin Sherpa tells his 201,800 followers on the social media platform X that Solana is setting up to dip below $50, more than 31% from its current value.

Trader Predicts Corrections for Solana and Additional Ethereum Rival, Updates Outlook on One Dogecoin Competitor

Solana's (SOL) Web3 smartphone has sold out amid the price explosion of a memecoin built on the smart contract platform. Dogecoin (DOGE) competitor Bonk (BONK) is trading at $0.000021 at time of writing, a staggering 10,669% increase from the beginning of the fourth quarter. Solana Mobile announced last Friday that its smartphone, Saga, had sold out.

Web3 Smartphone Solana Saga Sells Out Amid Price Explosion of Dogecoin Rival BONK

The combined market cap of tokenized Treasuries mushroomed to over $760 million from $110 million earlier this year, according to RWA.xyz data.

Real-World Assets Build on Solana as Ondo Finance Expands Tokenized Treasury Offering

What went up last week has come crashing down—but Solana's BONK is still up 500% this month despite the losses.

BONK Goes Bust? Solana Meme Coin Plunges 44% After Setting All-Time High

Metaplex, a protocol powered by Solana (CRYPTO: SOL), announced plans to launch a new standard for immutable digital assets on its platform. With this, there will be no need for external trust assumptions on the assets stored on the Solana network.

News for Solana Crypto (SOL)