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

Armani Ferrante reflects on the buzzy launch of Mad Lads, plus Coral's larger plans with the Backpack app and versatile xNFTs.

Mad Lads Gave Solana NFTs a ‘New Heartbeat' After Losing DeGods: Coral CEO

The new tool will make it easier to interact with the Solana blockchain, even enabling NFT purchases.

Solana Labs Preps ChatGPT Plugin for Real-Time Blockchain Analysis

Ethereum

Polygon

Phantom, a leading self-custody wallet in the Solana (SOL) ecosystem, is reportedly expanding to support the Ethereum (ETH) and Polygon (MATIC) chains. Phantom told TechCrunch that it plans to support the Ethereum and Polygon blockchains beginning May 1st on both iOs and Android devices.

New MetaMask Competitor? Top Solana Wallet Phantom Goes Multichain With Expansion to Ethereum and Polygon

Cardano

Cardano was one of Wednesday's big movers, as bullish sentiment returned to cryptocurrency markets. Spurred by an apparent collapse of First Republic Bank, the global crypto market cap moved 7% higher, as of writing. Solana was also in the green, rising by nearly 9%.

Biggest Movers: ADA, SOL Jump 9% Higher on Wednesday

Helium's newly-issued IOT token has risen by over 370% in the past 24-hours following the protocol's successful migration to the Solana blockchain last week.

Helium's IOT Token Surges 370% Following Solana Migration

Solana wallet Phantom added support for the Ethereum and Polygon blockchains in its first step to go multichain.

Solana wallet Phantom goes multichain, expands to Ethereum and Polygon

Solana Foundation's General Manager of Games Johnny Lee tells Decrypt's Kate Irwin about his predictions for Web3 gaming in 2023.

Blockchain Games Will Shed Their 'Well-Deserved' Bad Reputation In 2023, Says Solana Games Lead

Shiba Inu

Meme coin Shiba Inu (CRYPTO: SHIB) is currently witnessing a significant drop in trading volume, hitting a low not seen in four months after struggling to build momentum from a local support level reached a few days ago. This stagnation in trading activity may be due to the general inactivity in the cryptocurrency market, which raises questions about Shiba Inu's ability to re-establish its upward trajectory in the near future, stated U.Today in its market report.

Shiba Inu Trading Volume Plummets To Unimaginable Lows, While Solana and Cardano Struggle: Is This The End Of The Meme Coin Era?

A veteran of the crypto space thinks one layer-1 blockchain offers slept-on opportunities not seen elsewhere in the markets. Chris Burniske, a partner at the venture capital firm Placeholder, says that Solana's (SOL) non-fungible token (NFT) ecosystem is unique in that the cost to mint NFTs is drastically lower than other chains.

Crypto Investor Chris Burniske Says People Are Still Sleeping on Big Solana (SOL) Opportunity

Polygon fell to a six-week low on Tuesday, with sentiment in cryptocurrency markets remaining bearish. The price plunged as consumer confidence in the United States fell by more than expected, coming in at a reading of 101.3 in April. Solana also slipped, hitting a two-week low.

Biggest Movers: MATIC Slides to 6-Week Low, as SOL Extends Declines

While Ethereum remains by far the most popular blockchain for minting NFTs, Polygon, Cardano and Solana have all seen small bumps in sales volume in recent weeks.

Polygon, Cardano and Solana NFT Sales Rise as Ethereum NFT Sales Slump

The Floor app now supports Solana NFTs, with the feature launching just days after Solana's buzziest mint in months.

Solana NFTs Come to Portfolio App Floor Amid Mad Lads Boom

In the midst of a turbulent week for the crypto market, non-fungible token (NFT) sales have shown resilience, experiencing a surge of 7.74% in weekly sales, totaling $181.82 million.

Non-Fungible Token Sales Spiked This Week Despite Crypto Market Volatility

The price of Solana (SOL) is falling well below the moving average lines after a sharp rejection at the $26 overhead barrier.

Solana Reaches Bearish Exhaustion And Rebounds Above $20

Ethereum (ETH) challenger Solana (SOL) rolled out a new carbon emissions tracker on Friday in a bid to be more environmentally conscious. The Solana Foundation says it's the first smart contract blockchain project “to have its emissions measured in real-time.” It developed the emissions tracker in partnership with Seattle-based carbon data platform Trycarbonara.

Ethereum (ETH) Rival Solana (SOL) Rolls Out New Carbon Emissions Dashboard To Track Environmental Footprint

Helium (HNT) Network officially completed its much-publicized migration to the Solana (SOL) blockchain on Wednesday. Abhay Kumar, the Helium Foundation's chief executive, says the upgrade will help with the project's scalability and reliability. “Migrating the Helium Network to Solana offers significantly more utility for the network, including faster transaction speeds and new smart contract capabilities.

Helium Finishes High-Profile Migration to Solana (SOL) As HNT Token Surges 11% This Week

The real-time dashboard, produced by the Solana Foundation, shows how much carbon the smart contracts platform is emitting.

Solana's Annual Carbon Footprint Equals 8 Flights from London to New York

The Solana Foundation claims that it is the first "major smart contract blockchain network" to broadcast its environmental impact as such.

Solana Now Measures Network Carbon Emissions Data in Real Time

Prominent NFT project Solana Monkey Business is now owned by the independent collective of holders that formed around it.

Solana Monkey Business IP Acquired by DAO of NFT Holders

Each hotspot on the crypto wireless network is now represented by an NFT as Helium successfully migrates to Solana.

Helium Completes Solana Migration, Minting Nearly 1M NFTs in the Process

Dogecoin

A popular crypto trader thinks Ethereum (ETH) competitor Solana (SOL) could see sizeable gains in the next two weeks. The pseudonymous analyst Cantering Clark, tweeting from his new Man o' War Twitter account, says he believes SOL could rally by as much as 23% in the short term.

Trader Unveils Price Target for Solana (SOL), Says He's Bullish on Dogecoin (DOGE) and One Ethereum Rival

The change aims to make Helium faster and cheaper to operate.

Decentralized Wireless Project Helium Begins Move to Solana Blockchain

A popular crypto analyst thinks Ethereum (ETH) challenger Solana (SOL) is gearing up for rapid growth as two on-chain metrics flash bullish signals for the smart contract protocol.

Analyst Says Top Ethereum Rival Set for Rapid Growth As On-Chain Metrics Signal Health

Grayscale has announced the public trading of its Solana Trust under the ticker symbol GSOL (OTC: GSOL), making it the latest addition to the 15 other cryptocurrency investment products the company offers on OTC Markets. With 304,427 outstanding shares as of Friday, investors with access to U.S. securities can "buy and sell freely-tradable GSOL shares through their investment accounts," said Grayscale.

Grayscale's GSOL: The Future Of Solana Investment Or A Bubble Waiting To Burst?

Avalanche

Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) rival Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) and Avalanche (CRYPTO: AVAX) are up 3.8% and 6.7%, respectively, in the last 24 hours, even apex crypto Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and ETH weakened. What Happened: Solana surged by 22.63% over the week and was last trading at $25.22.

News for Solana Crypto (SOL)