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

The network is completing a seven-week push to produce blocks twice as frequently, though validators face higher costs and tighter operating windows.

Solana is about to halve its block times as final 200-millisecond upgrade nears

Securitize is launching 1:1-backed versions of major U.S. stocks on Solana, giving eligible investors access to equities including Apple, Nvidia, Tesla, and Microsoft through regulated onchain infrastructure. Securitize Adds Stock Tokens With Dividends and Voting Rights Securitize is taking some of Wall Street's most recognizable names onchain.

Securitize Brings Apple, Nvidia and Tesla Stocks Onchain on Solana

Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) briefly processed more trades than the NYSE in September, according to Citrini Research, as tokenized stocks and real-world assets push deeper into traditional finance. Why Citrini Says Crypto Finally Found Its Purpose Citrini Research wrote in a Thursday note that crypto spent 15 years building programmable financial infrastructure without a clear use case, until AI agents and tokenized assets gave it one.

Solana Tops NYSE Trade Count: Can Robinhood, Coinbase, Hyperliquid Keep Up?

Solana DEX Orca and lending platform Loopscale will operate as Formation, a New York company aiming to finance AI, energy, robotics and defense assets and eventually reach regulated U.S. markets.

Solana DeFi Firms Orca and Loopscale Merge Under New Formation Brand

One self-custodial platform to power Earn, Swaps, Predictions and Perps on Decrypt, as it builds out its financial and intelligence market.

Decrypt Money Accounts on Solana to Power The Information Exchange

The new Securitize Stocks product launches with 12 names backed one-to-one by real shares—preserving dividends and voting rights—trading first on Solana, with NYSE and OKX-ICE venues planned.

Securitize Brings Nvidia, Apple and Amazon Onchain With Tokenized Stocks on Solana

Tokenized shares in the mega-caps will first trade on Securitize's Solana-based platform, with further plans to expand them to NYSE and OKXICE digital venues, the firm said.

Securitize brings Apple, Nvidia and Tesla to Solana, with NYSE trading in the works

USDC

Users can send USDC across borders from late October, three months after Samsung teased stablecoin support without naming a blockchain.

Samsung Wallet Taps Solana for USDC Transfers on 82M US Galaxy Devices

The South Korean tech giant said the feature is built into Samsung Wallet, with fiat on- and off-ramps, rather than a separate crypto app.

Samsung to launch USDC transfers on Solana for US Galaxy users

Orca and Loopscale unite as Formation, targeting financing for AI, energy, robotics and defense.

Solana's Orca merges with Loopscale in push to finance AI, robotics and defense

Solana's stablecoin footprint has expanded to more than 14 million holder addresses, alongside over $15 billion in supply and $1 billion in cumulative stablecoin card volume. Solana Stablecoin Use Sees Massive Growth in Two Years Solana's stablecoin economy is reaching a new scale just as the blockchain makes a bigger push into institutional settlement.

Solana Hits 14M Stablecoin Holders as Card Volume Tops $1B

Solana has rolled out batch payments for the x402 standard with PayAI Network and BlockRunAI, allowing AI agents to make many USDC payments before settling them in a single onchain transaction.

Solana x402 Lets AI Agents Batch USDC Payments, Slashing Fees

Joseph Chee, CEO and Chairman of Solana Company (NASDAQ:HSDT), said on Tuesday that China is “very closely” monitoring cryptocurrency and blockchains, while continuing to have reservations about how the technology is used. China Can't Ignore Crypto, Says Chee During an interview with CNBC, Chee said that there are Chinese think tanks, academics and other groups who are familiar with the technology.

China vs. Crypto Isn't Over Yet: Solana CEO Says Beijing Is Studying the Technology ‘Very Closely' — 'They Know That's Not the Technology They Can Ignore'

On Tuesday, the Solana Foundation revealed an open-source escrow program called Solana DvP, calling it an “atomic settlement program built for financial institutions.” The foundation explained that the largest bank in the United States, JPMorgan, provided the organization with “input on institutional settlement practices and requirements.

JPMorgan Lends Its Expertise to Solana's Atomic Settlement Program

Solana treasury firm DeFi Development approved an open-ended program to repurchase CHAD preferred stock if it trades below its $10 par value.

Solana treasury DeFi Development authorizes CHAD preferred stock buyback program

Solana Foundation launched an open-source program that lets institutions settle trades in seconds, not days. JPMorgan provided key inputs.

Solana Foundation unveils a program to settle institutional trades in seconds. JPMorgan gave input

Built with input from J.P. Morgan, the open-source "DvP" program lets institutions settle trades atomically on Solana with finality in seconds instead of days.

Solana Debuts Institutional Settlement Standard With J.P. Morgan Input

Nasdaq-listed DeFi Development Corp's latest SEC filing shows its Solana stash grew 1%, to about 2.56 million SOL and SOL equivalents—roughly half the prior week's gain and well below mid-September's pace.

DeFi Development Corp Adds $3 Million in Solana as SOL Buys Slow

Bitcoin

Ethereum

Real Vision founder Raoul Pal remains bullish on crypto's long-term trajectory, arguing that improving liquidity could lift Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), Solana (CRYPTO: SOL), Sui (CRYPTO: SUI) and other digital assets. Pal argues Wall Street's tokenization push and AI adoption strengthen the sector's underlying growth story.

How Raoul Pal Built His Crypto Portfolio: BTC, ETH, SOL and 1 Surprise Coin

DFDV says preliminary Q3 estimates show NAV per share more than doubled as its Solana treasury grew to 2.56 million SOL.

DeFi Development sees NAV per share more than doubling, holds 2.56 million SOL

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) and Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) are flashing short-term sell signals as one prominent analyst points to a recent "Sunday pump, Monday dump" pattern. Sunday Pump, Monday Dump?

Will Bitcoin, ETH, SOL See a 'Sunday Pump, Monday Dump?' One Analyst's Indicators Say Yes

Solana ETFs have overtaken XRP products in total net assets after an eight-day inflow streak brought in nearly $254 million. The shift is notable because SOL still has a smaller market capitalization than XRP, yet its ETF complex now represents a much larger share of the underlying token's value.

Solana ETFs Overtake XRP Funds With $1.91 Billion in Assets

Decrypt is the destination, Myriad is the infrastructure and MYR is the token for a connected media ecosystem.

Introducing The Information Exchange on Solana, Powered by Decrypt and MYR

Avalanche

Tokenized stocks now represent a $3.6 billion market across 4,555 assets, but the latest growth is dividing sharply between institutional capital and retail activity. Avalanche Leads Tokenized Stock Growth as Solana Wins New Users Tokenized equities are starting to reveal two very different growth stories.

Tokenized Stocks Hit $3.6B as Avalanche and Solana Split the Market

XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) ETF net assets grew 80% throughout Q3 to an all-time high of $1.77 billion, and Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan says the appeal behind that growth comes down to two simple factors. Why Hougan Says XRP Wins Over Advisers Hougan on Monday told Token Relations that XRP appeals to financial advisers for straightforward reasons.

News for Solana Crypto (SOL)