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

Other Solana-based airdrop tokens W and TNSR have seen declines in value, while the network has been experiencing major congestion issues.

Solana-based betting platform Parcl loses 40% TVL after airdrop

Macro guru and ex-Goldman Sachs executive Raoul Pal is revealing that is heavily invested in one Ethereum (ETH) competitor.

Former Goldman Sachs Executive Says 80% of His Crypto Portfolio Allocated to One Ethereum Rival

﻿The price of Solana (SOL) is in a downtrend after failing twice at the $210 threshold. Price analysis by Coinidol.com.

Solana Continues Strong Rise And Bounces Back

Coinciding with the launch of the Drift DAO, the Foundation will airdrop 10% of the total supply of DRIFT tokens on Solana.

Solana Futures Exchange Drift Will Airdrop 100 Million Tokens to DeFi Traders

Designer of Ore project took to X to announce mining would be suspended immediately after Solana network suffered congestion.

Bitcoin-like mining protocol Ore halts mining on Solana amid network congestion

On April 16, 2024, the Drift Foundation, which supports the Solana-based decentralized exchange (dex) platform Drift, disclosed plans to distribute 100 million tokens to its users. The tokens will function as the platform's governance coin, to be utilized by the community and the Drift decentralized autonomous organization (DAO).

Drift Foundation Announces 100 Million Token Airdrop for Solana-Based Dex Users

Bitcoin

Ethereum

A widely followed crypto analyst and trader is unveiling a list of crypto assets he is holding after last week's altcoin meltdown.

Top Trader Unveils Crypto Holdings Following Last Week's Crash, Says Altcoin Recovery Now on Accelerated Timeline

Drift, a Solana-based DEX protocol, is set to launch its token and airdrop 100 million DRIFT tokens to users.

Solana DEX Drift set to airdrop 100 million tokens to users

Some surprise winners in Drift's road to decentralization include MetaDAO.

Solana DEX Drift to Airdrop 100M Tokens in Weeks

The Anza team, which emerged from Solana Labs earlier this year, has unveiled potential solutions to address the growing congestion issues on the Solana network.

Solana Release Brings Proposed Fixes to Network Congestion Issues

The investment firm said Runes has the potential to help the broader Bitcoin ecosystem compete against Ethereum and Solana.

Runes Will Help Bitcoin DeFi ‘Close the Gap' on Ethereum, Solana: Franklin Templeto

After weeks of failed transactions, Solana might be turning a corner with the launch of a first update for mainnet validators.

Solana Update Brings First Fixes for Congestion Issues

Anthony Scaramucci, the founder of SkyBridge Capital, has voiced his skepticism towards meme coins, despite their recent high returns in the first quarter of 2024. What Happened: Scaramucci opined on meme coins and the broader digital asset market at a conference in London on Monday, DLNews reported.

Anthony Scaramucci's Fund 'Will Not Touch' Meme Coins But Vouches For Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana

Whales on the Solana (SOL) blockchain are gobbling up memecoin discounts following a marketwide correction over the weekend, according to on-chain data.

Solana Whales Scoop Up Millions of Dollars Worth of Memecoins As Crypto Markets Dip: Lookonchain

Closely followed trader and economist Alex Krüger is predicting Ethereum (ETH) will reach new all-time highs (ATHs), while also eyeing up other altcoins. Krüger tells his 171,400 followers on the social media platform X that he “fully expects” new ATHs for ETH based on several fundamental reasons. “I fully expect ETH to trade ATH.

Economist Alex Krüger Bullish on ‘Faster Horses' Like Worldcoin and Four Altcoins, Predicts Ethereum All-Time High

Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) launched a mainnet beta update, v1.17.31 to handle network congestion that occurred early last week amid soaring meme coin transactions. What Happened: The Solana Foundation has attributed the network congestion to the high demand for Solana block space and increased network activity.

Solana Rolls Out Mainnet Beta Update To Address Network Overload, SOL Up 2%

A widely followed crypto analyst says that Ethereum (ETH) competitor Solana's (SOL) nearly 45% devaluation from its 2024 high may end up being a “lifetime opportunity” for long-term bulls.

‘Lifetime Opportunity' for Solana? Crypto Analyst Predicts Steep SOL Rally Following Marketwide Dip – Here's His Target

Solana has led a rebound in the cryptocurrency market after major tokens dipped amid concerns over a wider conflict in the Middle East.

Solana leads crypto recovery despite global stock tumble over geopolitical concerns

Solana's v1.17.31 release is now recommended for general use by mainnet validators, with more updates to follow.

Solana patch aims to help alleviate ongoing network congestion issues

A meme coin trading frenzy and a rapid spike in users has stressed the network in recent months.

Solana Rolls Out Update to Tackle Network Congestion

Solana (SOL) experienced a decline in open interest (OI) since April 12, as over $85 million in long positions were liquidated amid a sharp market downturn.

Solana Faces Decline in Open Interest as Longs Liquidated Amid Price Downturn

Anza, a collective of developers focused on the Solana blockchain, has produced a fix that aims to reduce the congestion that the network has been experiencing. The new version of Solana, now being tried in testnet, includes a feature called stake-weighted quality of service (SWQOS), that prioritizes transactions from higher quality validators.

Solana Developers Test Congestion Fixes in Testnet, Introduce Measures to Prioritize Traffic

Dogecoin

Bitcoin BTC has fallen sharply after Israel's military said Iran had fired "dozens" of drones toward it in a retaliatory attack.

Israel-Iran War Fears Suddenly Spark $500 Billion Bitcoin And Crypto Price Crash—Hitting Ethereum, BNB, XRP, Solana And Dogecoin

Founded by pseudonymous devs with bear-themed names, Berachain is built on Cosmos SDK and aims to be the next big layer-1 chain.

What Is Berachain? The Latest Ethereum, Solana Challenger to Raise Big Money

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and other major cryptocurrencies are down significantly as traders' long positions are being liquidated.

News for Solana Crypto (SOL)