Solana is the leading Layer-1 alternative to Ethereum – and it’s not difficult to see why!
Combining high-speed transactions and low fees with a global community, Solana ($SOL) has garnered widespread attention, fandom and support. With an emphasis on user experience and scalability, Solana has become one of the leading choices for both blockchain developers and enthusiasts alike.
But with that said, what makes Solana so different? What are the biggest projects on Solana? Why is its success so important? Join us, as we explain the Solana blockchain in 2024.
What is Solana?
Solana is a Layer-1 blockchain. Created to be a direct alternative to Ethereum, Solana fixes several of Ethereum’s core issues by being a solution that’s high-speed, low-cost, secure and scalable.
Solana utilises $SOL as its ecosystem token, used for transacting and staking on Solana, and for powering Solana at large.
You can find a wide array of projects, features and trends on Solana, including:
- Decentralized Exchanges (DEXs): A selection of popular DEXs support Solana, including Jupiter, Raydium, Orca, and many more
- Wallets: Multiple third-party wallets offer support for Solana, with Phantom being the most popular
- NFTs and Inscriptions: NFTs – and more recent Inscriptions – have long-called Solana home, with notable Solana-based collections including DeGods, Mad Lads and CryptoUndeads
- Marketplaces: Magic Eden has long been the go-to for trading Solana NFTs, although other Solana-supported NFT marketplaces are available, such as Tensor
- Memecoins: Starting in late 2023 and seeing popularity throughout the first half of 2024, Solana-based memecoins brought a surge of activity to the blockchain, with coins such as dogwifhat and Bonk attracting huge trading volumes
- Solana Blinks: Only debuting in the past few weeks, Solana Blinks allow Solana-based applications to be embedded into other websites, such as leading social media platforms, making interacting with Solana easier than ever before
How does Solana work?
Solana combines its native Proof-of-History (PoH) protocol with Proof-of-Stake (PoS) methods, allowing Solana to timestamp transactions before processing. Through this, Solana is able to process an impressive 65,000 transactions per second (TPS), with transaction fees as low as $0.01 USD.
This makes Solana a suitable solution for developers building dApps that require fast, affordable transactions – such as crypto exchanges and blockchain games.
The majority of smart contracts on Solana are written in Rust, although the likes of C and C++ are also supported. This wide range of supported has contributed to the rapid growth of Solana, allowing web2 developers to transfer into web3 development more easily.
What is the history of Solana?
Solana began in 2017, having been created by former Qualcomm engineer Anatoly Yakovenko.
The Solana mainnet held its official launch in March 2020. Here’s some of the major milestones thus far:
- Exploits: In its early years, Solana saw a variety of exploits, which resulted in thousands of compromised wallets and millions of dollars in lost funds
- Reliability: Alongside its exploits, Solana often had long periods of downtime – though this is less of an issue today
- Rapid growth: Solana has seen two notable peaks, with the first in 2022, and the second from 2023/24, which brought countless developers and players into the Solana ecosystem
- DeGods and y00ts: DeGods and y00ts were two of the biggest NFT collections on Solana before they migrated to Ethereum and Polygon respectively in 2022
- Memecoins: Altcoin culture arrived on Solana in late 2023 through 2024, bringing thousands of new investors into the Solana fold
- Solana Blinks: The recently introduced Solana Blinks marked the start of a new chapter – not just for Solana, but for web3 as a whole
Solana’s growth is due largely to its solid foundations – high speed, low costs, and a committed community.
Despite its past struggles, Solana is riding high as the leading Layer-1 alternative to Ethereum. As it continues to evolve, the innovations, initiatives and trends that begin on Solana will no doubt be significant for the future of blockchain as a whole – and that will likely be the case for many years to come.
For developers, investors, gamers and more, Solana is well-worth diving into – and with Solana Blinks signifying a new chapter for the chain, there’s no better time than now.
Riding crypto waves since 2012, bridging digital and physical worlds through prose.