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

Bitcoin

Ethereum

Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other top coins shot up alongside stocks after Fed Chair Jerome Powell gave a calming outlook on the U.S. economy.

Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana Rise Alongside Stocks Following Fed Comments

The products are a significant step forward for the approval of a spot Solana ETF.

First Solana Futures ETF To Hit Markets This Week

Volatility Shares' ETFs tracking Solana futures are set to debut in the U.S. on the Nasdaq on Thursday, the company confirmed to Decrypt.

First Solana Futures ETFs in US Set to Begin Trading Thursday

Small asset manager Volatility Shares launching the first-ever Solana ETFs as of tomorrow as spot products await approvals.

Solana futures ETFs launching this week via Volatility Shares while others await approval of spot product

These figures might be scary for equity or currency traders but do not represent a major deviation from the normal in the crypto market.

Bitcoin, Ether, Solana Likely to See 3%- 5% Price Swings on FOMC Rate Decision, Volmex's Data Suggests

On March 17, Solana's official Twitter account posted a promotional video titled "America is Back—Time to Accelerate," which quickly garnered over 1.2 million views.

Solana Pulls Controversial Ad After Backlash Over Gender Identity Portrayal, Garnering 1.2 Million Views

CME trades involving Solana futures on Monday generated $12 million in total monetary value and ended with $7.8 million in open interest.

Solana Futures Start Quietly on CME, Falls Short of Bitcoin and Ethereum's Early Hype: K33

Dogecoin

Polkadot

Top altcoins like Solana and XRP are down ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy decision, an event that could shape rate cut expectations.

Solana, XRP and Dogecoin Slump as Crypto Market Awaits Fed's ‘Dot Plot'

When adjusted for asset market capitalization SOL's relative futures volume looks better, K33 Research noted.

Solana CME Futures Fell Short of BTC and ETH Debuts, but There's a Catch

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

The Daily: Bitcoin ETFs post largest inflows in six weeks, Solana retracts ad amid crypto community backlash and more

Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) futures have started trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (NASDAQ:CME) this week, but early activity was underwhelming compared to major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. According to a report by research firm K33, the first day of trading for Solana futures saw a total volume of $12.3 million, with open interest ending at $7.8 million.

Solana Underperforms Historical Bitcoin, Ethereum Volumes On First Day Of CME Futures Trading

Solana generates a lot more fees with a much smaller market cap than Ethereum, Samani argued.

Multicoin's Samani Explains Why SOL ETF Could Trounce ETH's

The K33 analysts expect a softer impact on the underlying price of SOL from any potential Solana ETF launch.

CME traders show ‘little interest' in Solana futures debut, potential ETF likely to have less impact on SOL price, K33 says

JitoSOL is not a security, the protocol claimed in a new research paper.

Solana's Biggest Protocol Jito Leans In on a Changed DC

Solana posted a video ad on Monday to promote its upcoming conference only to remove it hours later following online controversy.

Solana retracts video ad amid backlash from crypto community

The blockchain's patriotic-themed ad campaign has drawn criticism, with some calling it “toxic” and at odds with crypto's inclusive values.

Solana Deletes Controversial Ad Following Crypto Community Backlash

Weeks before Trump won again, Solana held an event that protected "gender identity."

Solana Protected Gender Identity Before Panning It in Anti-Queer Ad

Cardano

The submission comes three months after Hashdex's fund, which currently focuses on Bitcoin and Ethereum, first received SEC approval.

Hashdex Seeks to Add Solana, XRP and Cardano to Index ETF Holding Bitcoin and Ethereum

Litecoin

Avalanche

Chainlink

Uniswap

The proposed amendment would include various cryptocurrencies in the in the Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF.

Hashdex Seeks to Expand U.S. Crypto ETF to Include Litecoin, XRP and Other Altcoins

Limiting access to the chain that launched Trump's memecoin is like shutting investors out from Amazon or Google during their initial offerings, says Hadley Stern, at Marinade Labs.

The U.S. Deserves Better Crypto ETFs. Let's Start With Solana

As of today, CME Group offers the new contracts in two sizes: a micro-sized contract covering 25 SOL and a larger contract covering 500 SOL.

Solana futures debut today on CME: Here's what you need to know

Sui (SUI) was also an underperformer, declining 3.2% from Friday.

CoinDesk 20 Performance Update: Solana (SOL) Falls 3.9%, Leading Index Lower

Traders say the current sell-off could have been caused by an unwinding of ETF and spot linked traders.

Bitcoin Slumps, ADA, SOL, XRP Drop 5% as “Buy the Dip” Sentiment Persists

The private block trade was done ahead of a futures launch as CME prepares for a possible Solana ETF, expected by some to occur this year.

FalconX Carries Out ‘First' CME Group Solana Futures Block Trade

The Firedancer client, originally planned to launch in the second quarter of 2024, will likely debut this year, scaling the network's processing capabilities.

News for Solana Crypto (SOL)