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

With crypto winter now starting to feel like an ice age, layoffs and new regulatory investigations could continue to be in the news after a slew of announcements and reports in the first week of January The post 3 biggest crypto stories to look for this coming week: Can Solana keep up the momentum? appeared first on The Block.

3 biggest crypto stories to look for this coming week: Can Solana keep up the momentum?

RPC endpoints run by Solana Foundation are currently unavailable. The post Solana Foundation RPC endpoints go offline appeared first on The Block.

Solana Foundation RPC endpoints go offline

Bitcoin

A popular crypto strategist and trader thinks that Bitcoin (BTC) and one Ethereum (ETH) rival are gearing up for huge rallies. Pseudonymous analyst Inmortal tells his 190,400 Twitter followers that he sees Bitcoin rallying close to $30,000 in the coming months before a final capitulation event that takes BTC to $12,500 later this year.

Popular Analyst Predicts Big Rallies for Bitcoin and One Ethereum Competitor – Here's His Timeline

After spending two months in freefall, Solana led a crypto market recovery this week with an explosive rally.

This Week in Coins: Solana Rallies as Crypto Market Sees Green to Start 2023

Polygon

Both DeGods and y00ts are leaving Solana—but y00ts got millions to do so.

Polygon Paid y00ts NFT Collection $3 Million to Leave Solana

Solana (CRYPTO: SOL), one of the leading proof-of-stake cryptocurrencies, has skyrocketed by an astonishing 65% in the past week thanks to BONK (CRYPTO: BONK), a Dogecoin knockoff that debuted on the Solana ecosystem this year. What Happened: BONK is a meme-inspired cryptocurrency modeled on Shiba Inu (CRYPTO: SHIB) and Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) whose symbols feature a canine avatar.

Solana Sees Relief Rally With Whopping 65% Weekly Gain Thanks To This Dogecoin Knockoff

Bonk

The downturn continues for the Doge-themed Solana-based meme coin BONK, despite the team's massive token burn.

Developers Burn 5 Trillion BONK as Solana-Based Meme Coin Slides

Zcash

Blockchain analytics firm Santiment is expressing bullish sentiment on seven crypto assets which are currently being heavily betted against. Santiment says that layer-1 blockchain Solana (SOL), decentralized public network Hedera (HBAR) and privacy coin ZCash (ZEC) are some of the crypto assets that are set to rally amid heavy shorting.

Solana (SOL), Zcash (ZEC), Hedera (HBAR) and Four Under-the-Radar Altcoins Primed for Breakouts: Santiment

Cryptocurrencies have developed bullish momentum after breaking above the moving average lines.

Weekly Cryptocurrency Market Analysis: Altcoins Rise Back As Bullish Momentum

Cardano

Dogecoin

A widely followed crypto analyst is breaking down his predictions for Ethereum (ETH) and a handful of popular altcoins.

Top Trader Reveals Forecasts for Cardano, XRP, Dogecoin and Three Additional Altcoins As 2023 Begins

Solana extended recent gains on Wednesday, as the token rose by as much as 15% in today's session. The move saw prices hit their highest point since mid-December, and comes as market sentiment has shifted in a bullish direction. Cardano was also in the green, as it hit a one-week high today.

Biggest Movers: SOL up 15%, as Bullish Sentiment Continues to Rise

Ethereum

Crypto prices were higher today, while Coinbase gained in pre-market trading to recoup some of Tuesday's losses. The Fed's latest meeting minutes from December will be released at 2 p.m. EST. The post Ether, altcoins higher as solana soars 14%, Coinbase gains pre-market after Tuesday's drop appeared first on The Block.

Ether, altcoins higher as solana soars 14%, Coinbase gains pre-market after Tuesday's drop

Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) was surging up about 16% at one point on Tuesday afternoon to reach over the $13 mark, as the crypto continued to rebound from its Dec. 29 low of $8. The spike higher contrasted with Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), which were struggling to trade flat amid the bearish action of the S&P 500.

As Project Flee Solana, SOL Rips Higher Within This Trend: Here's What To Watch

BONK was airdropped to Solana developers, creators, and NFT holders, and is up 58% today alone.

Solana Surges 16% as Doge-Themed SHIB Rival BONK Takes Off

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who is facing fraud charges, was a big Solana proponent.

Solana Exec Says Platform Still Gaining New Users Despite FTX's Collapse

Trading volume for Solana-based NFTs remained steady in 2022, keeping the chain's second-place position behind Ethereum. The post Solana NFT trading volume shows signs of strength despite rout appeared first on The Block.

Solana NFT trading volume shows signs of strength despite rout

Cosmos

Solana was up by almost 8% on Tuesday, as the token rose for a fifth consecutive session. Recent moves have come despite the Christmas and New Year period, where market volumes were somewhat muted. Cosmos was also in the green, as prices rose to a multi-week high.

Biggest Movers: SOL Surges 8%, as ATOM Nears 1-Month High

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) moved slightly higher this morning, with prices for the most valued cryptocurrency in the world, trading around $16,700 level on Tuesday. Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), also edged higher, with prices trading above the key $1,200 mark on Tuesday.

Crypto Market Cap Tops $800 Billion; Kava, Solana Among Top Gainers

Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) has seen its value increase by 12% over the last 24 hours, pushing it beyond the $11 mark. What Happened: This surge comes after Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) founder Vitalik Buterin expressed his optimism for Solana's future by tweeting that "smart people" have informed him that the smart developer community in Solana is thriving and that the chain has a "bright future" now that “the awful opportunistic money people have been washed out.

Vitalik Buterin's Optimistic Outlook Leads To This Crypto Outperforming Bitcoin, Ethereum Gains

Despite the recent boost, Solana is down almost 20% over the past month as many SOL-based projects migrate to pastures new.

Solana Jumps Double Digits to Reclaim $11

A widely followed crypto trader says that one Ethereum (ETH) competitor is close to carving a bottom after losing roughly 95% of its value in 2022.

Top Crypto Analyst Says One Ethereum Challenger Could Be Bottoming After 95% Decline Last Year

Bitcoin and Ethereum slid less than 2% in the final week of a brutal year for crypto prices; SOL and DOGE fell much harder.

Bitcoin and Ethereum Flat in Final Week of 2022, Solana and Dogecoin Down Bad

Widely followed economist Alex Krüger says that Ethereum (ETH) challenger Solana (SOL) is likely positioned for a rally. Krüger tells his 150,500 Twitter followers that he's bullish on Solana as the altcoin is likely mimicking the pattern of automatic yield-farming protocol Yearn.Finance (YFI) in 2020. “PA [price action] makes me think of YFI October 2020.

Economist Alex Kruger Says Solana Mimicking One Altcoin's Pattern Before 2020 Breakout

The founder of Ethereum (ETH) is offering words of encouragement to the developers of rival smart contract platform Solana (SOL) as its bear market struggles continue.

Ethereum (ETH) Founder Vitalik Buterin Offers Support for Solana Developers As SOL Stumbles Into 2023

Avalanche

Polkadot

At the end of 2021, a myriad of people thought a handful of smart contract platform tokens, often referred to as ‘Ethereum killers,' would flip the second-largest crypto asset in terms of market capitalization in 2022.

News for Solana Crypto (SOL)