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

dogwifhat

BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes says he thinks Bitcoin (BTC) will continue to drop in price, and that he's prepared to load up on specific altcoins if it does.

Arthur Hayes Reveals Two Altcoin Picks, Warns Bitcoin Has Further To Drop – Here's His Outlook

A Solana-based (SOL) wireless crypto project is skyrocketing after partnering up with a telecom firm. In a new press release, Nova Labs, the team behind Helium Mobile (MOBILE), says it's collaborating with Spanish telecom firm Telefónica to launch mobile hotspots in select parts of Mexico.

Solana-Based Altcoin Surges 39% in Two Days As Crypto Project Partners With Telecom Firm

Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) introduced token extensions, empowering developers to implement customization around the Solana token standard. While Solana has outperformed Bitcoin in the past two months, analysts maintain a bullish outlook on the token.

Solana Launches Token Extensions: 'Time To Become A SOL Bull Again,' Investor Says

Jupiter's launchpad will debut WEN on Friday, before next week's JUP airdrop. Here's who is eligible to claim the Solana meme coin.

WEN Token? Over a Million Wallets Eligible for Solana Meme Coin Airdrop

A former Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) veteran along with others announced the launch of a new venture on Thursday to support and invest in emerging talents in the blockchain sector, specifically focusing on those developing on the Solana platform. This initiative, called Colosseum, aims to foster industry-defining innovations and startups within the Solana blockchain ecosystem.

New Venture Capital Fund By Colosseum To Boost Solana Blockchain Startups

In a remarkable surge, Solana memecoin Dogwifhat (WIF) skyrocketed almost 50% in the past day, reaching a price of $0.34.

Popular Solana-Based Memecoin Dogwifhat Soars After Listing on Bitget

On Wednesday, Solana Labs unveiled the launch of token extensions, marking a noteworthy advancement in the SPL Token standard. The blockchain network's token extensions aim to provide a suite of solutions for businesses transitioning to distributed ledger technology, emphasizing security, compliance, and ease of use.

Solana Unleashes Token Extensions to Enhance SPL Token Standard

A trio of traders believe that the smart contract platform Solana (SOL) will head to much lower prices before regaining bullish momentum.

Trio of Crypto Analysts Flip Bearish on Solana, Unanimously Agree on Downside Price Target for SOL

Saga DAO, a community-run fan club for Solana's sellout mobile phone lost much of its treasury Wednesday to a hacker who made off with 750 SOL, worth roughly $60,000.

Fan Club for Solana's Saga Phone Loses 750 SOL to Hack

Solana-based communications startup Dialect is out with a "conversational" trading bot for traders who want to buy and sell tokens right from their Telegram chat apps.

Solana Startup Dialect Builds 'Conversational' Telegram Trading Bot

Ethereum

Bitcoin BTC and cryptocurrencies have swung wildly this week as traders panic over huge outflows from Grayscale's spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF)—with some predicting this could be just the beginning.

‘AI Agents' Are Coming For Crypto—Palantir CEO Issues ‘Very Important' Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana And XRP Price Prediction

Token extensions include augmented token interactions, transfer fees and zero-knowledge proof-powered confidential transfers.

Solana Labs releases token extensions for SPL token standard on Solana network

Tokens built on the Solana blockchain are getting a bit more programmable, with their developers now able to implement rules around who can hold them and what they can do with them.

Solana Delivers 'Token Extensions' to Attract Compliance-Minded Token Developers

Bonk

Solana meme coin Dogwifhat (WIF) soared as trading began on crypto exchange Bitget early Wednesday morning.

Solana Meme Coin Dogwifhat Soars 30% on Bitget Listing, SOL and BONK See Gains

Solana prices continued to encounter headwinds today, struggling to recoup their recent losses after dropping to their lowest in over a month.

Solana Prices Continue To Struggle After Reaching Lowest Since Christmas

Waiting for the Jupiter airdrop? Jupiter's launchpad will deploy a Solana meme coin to even more wallets this week.

Jupiter Launching Solana Meme Coin With An Airdrop Even Bigger Than JUP

In the dynamic world of crypto markets, recent trends have illuminated intriguing divergences in the altcoin market, particularly between ethereum and solana, relative to bitcoin. A comprehensive report published by Glassnode, an onchain analytics firm, delves into this phenomenon.

Report: Ethereum and Solana Showcase Unique Market Dynamics in Recent Altcoin Trends

As the price of Bitcoin continues to drop, the broader crypto market is taking a hit—and Ethereum and Solana are having a rough week.

Ethereum, Solana Losses Pile Up as Bitcoin Sell-Off Sinks Crypto Market

Solana's largest perpetual trading protocol, Drift, has launched a points program to reward its users ahead of its token launch.

Solana protocol Drift announces points reward program ahead of token launch

1/23 update below. This post was originally published on January 22

Bitcoin ETF Panic: ‘Critical' Price Level Revealed After $300 Billion Ethereum, Solana And XRP Crash

Avalanche

Over half of the profits accumulated by short-term bitcoin holders have been wiped out, Bitfinex analysts said in a Tuesday note.

Solana, Avalanche Tokens Slide as Bitcoin Traders Target Eye Support at $38K

A new report from digital asset fund manager CoinShares reveals that investors are withdrawing funds from high-profile crypto funds.

Altcoin Crypto Funds Like Ethereum and Solana See Outflows After Bitcoin ETFs Launch

A widely followed crypto analyst says that one top-10 altcoin looks stronger than the competition while predicting corrections for the smart contract platform Solana (SOL) and one decentralized finance (DeFi) token.

Trader Says One Large-Cap Crypto Looks Way Stronger Than Others, Predicts Correction for Solana and One DeFi Altcoin

Cardano

While the crypto board is declining amid Grayscale's offloading Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), a crypto analyst believed Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) could likely outperform Bitcoin. What Happened: Until midday trade, the cryptocurrency board was drenched in red amidst Grayscale offloading Bitcoin holdings worth $2.14 billion.

Ethereum, Solana, XRP, Cardano Bundle In Red Though Crypto King Ethereum Could Still Outperform Bitcoin, Says Analyst

The latest price moves in bitcoin [BTC] and crypto markets in context for Jan. 22, 2024. First Mover is CoinDesk's daily newsletter that contextualizes the latest actions in the crypto markets.

News for Solana Crypto (SOL)