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

Solana's top NFT marketplace responds to growing criticism and says it plans to change the way it manages users' assets—but not right away.

Magic Eden Rivals Say NFTs on Solana's Biggest Marketplace Are at Risk

Ethereum

Decentraland

A popular crypto strategist says that he sees blue skies in the short term for a trio of altcoins including smart contract protocol Solana (SOL) and virtual reality platform Decentraland (MANA).

Blue Skies in Sight for Solana, Decentraland and One Ethereum Altcoin, Says Top Analyst – Here Are His Targets

Cardano

Polygon

A widely followed crypto strategist is predicting strong rallies for two Ethereum (ETH) rivals and one additional altcoin. The pseudonymous analyst known as Pentoshi tells his 590,600 Twitter followers that smart contract platform Solana (SOL) is one resistance away from igniting a nearly 40% surge from current prices. “Think SOL has fresh air above here.

Top Crypto Strategist Predicts ‘Turbo' Rallies for Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA) and Polygon (MATIC)

The Solana (SOL) Foundation has opened its first physical store in New York City called Solana Spaces NYC. The Ethereum (ETH) competitor claims it is “the world's first retail and educational space dedicated to Web3.” The Solana Foundation says the store is devoted to blockchain newcomers.

Ethereum (ETH) Competitor Solana (SOL) Opens First Physical Store in New York City

Further market recovery will be contingent on the strength of the dollar and the wider macro environment, one trader said.

BNB, Solana Lead Gains in Majors; Traders Point to Dollar Strength for Further Upside

Avalanche

Top crypto analyst Michaël van de Poppe says that altcoin prices could surge by up to 200% as Bitcoin (BTC) and many other crypto assets rally. Van de Poppe tells his 619,600 Twitter followers that investors could see big returns for tokens such as Avalanche (AVAX), Solana (SOL) and Chainlink (LINK).

Top Crypto Trader Plots What's Next for Solana and Avalanche, Says Altcoins Ready To Explode by Up to 200%

Bitcoin

Dogecoin

Chipotle is launching a new game that gives players the chance to win free Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Avalanche (AVAX), Solana (SOL) or Dogecoin (DOGE).

Rush to Chipotle To Win Free Bitcoin, Ethereum, Avalanche, Solana, or Dogecoin in New ‘Buy the Dip' Game

The price of the protocol's ANA token fell almost 80% following the attack.

Solana DeFi Protocol Nirvana Drained of Liquidity After Flash Loan Exploit

The attacker used a $10 million flash loan from Solana lending pool Solend to drain $3.5 million from the Nirvana treasury. The post Solana stablecoin Nirvana sinks 90% amid $3.5 million flash loan exploit appeared first on The Block.

Solana stablecoin Nirvana sinks 90% amid $3.5 million flash loan exploit

If you build it, will degens come? Solana Spaces hopes that they will.

Solana Set to Open IRL Retail Store and Web3 'Embassy' in New York

New data from crypto insights firm Messari reveals that Solana (SOL) is emerging as a challenger to leading smart contract platform Ethereum's (ETH) non-fungible token (NFT) market dominance. In a recent report, Messari says that even though Solana's overall usage declined in Q2 of this year, its NFT activity has greatly accelerated.

Solana (SOL) Emerging As New Competitor to Ethereum's NFT Dominance: Analytics Firm Messari

ApeCoin

A popular analyst is diving into the price charts to provide updates for a trio of crypto assets as the markets cool off.

Crypto Analyst Issues Warning on Bitcoin (BTC), Solana (SOL) and ApeCoin (APE) As Markets Correct

Following a week of green, the cryptocurrency market is bleeding again, once more dropping back into the billions range.

Crypto Market Falls Below $1 Trillion as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana Sink

Solana fell for a second consecutive session on Tuesday, pushing the token to its lowest level in twelve days. The move comes as sentiment in crypto markets turned bearish ahead of tomorrow's FOMC meeting. Near protocol was also lower, dropping by as much as 12% today.

Biggest Movers: SOL Slips to 12-Day Low, as NEAR Drops by Nearly 12% on Tuesday

Chipotle Mexican Grill, often referred to as simply Chipotle, has announced a new cryptocurrency game that encourages fans to “Buy the Dip.” The game aims to give away over $200K in crypto rewards and coupons for specific foods priced at a penny. Chipotle Returns With Another Crypto-Infused Contest In April 2021, Bitcoin.

Chipotle's ‘Buy the Dip' Game Plans to Reward Players With $200K in ETH, BTC, SOL, AVAX, and DOGE

With the first half of the year gone, statistics from the second quarter of 2022 indicate that the crypto economy has tumbled significantly in value, and crypto tokens in the top ten market positions have lost 30% to 60% in USD value during the past three months.

BNB Was the Top Ten's Best Market Performer in Q2, Bitcoin Takes Second Place — Solana Performed the Worst

A panel of crypto industry experts has predicted that solana will be worth $166 by 2025 and $512 by 2030. “SOL is one of the leading contenders in the smart contract blockchain space.

Finder's Crypto Experts Predict Solana Rising to $512 by 2030

Happy Friday Everyone! 👋 There's no telling when Crypto Winter will be over but the weather for crypto prices over the last week has been bright & sunny.

GRIT - Solana Is Gaining Ground

Solana protocol Cardinal — which aims to improve the utility of NFTs — has raised $4.4 million in seed funding. The post Solana NFT utility protocol Cardinal raises $4.4 million in seed funding appeared first on The Block.

Solana NFT utility protocol Cardinal raises $4.4 million in seed funding

Hoffman is using OpenAI's AI-powered image rendering platform to generate NFT artwork to auction via Magic Eden.

LinkedIn Founder Reid Hoffman Turns DALL-E AI Art Into Solana NFTs

OpenSea now has its own minting platform to rival Magic Eden, but launch partner Zoonies appears to be stumbling out the gate.

OpenSea Debuts Solana NFT Launchpad to Lackluster Demand

NEAR Protocol

A popular analyst is diving into the price charts for half a dozen crypto assets as the markets rebound from a challenging last few months.

Here's What's Next for Solana, Avalanche and One Hot Ethereum Rival, According to Top Crypto Analyst

Cosmos

Quick Take In this weekly series, we dive into some of the most interesting data and developments across the Layer 1 blockchain landscape, from DeFi and bridges to network activity and funding Modern blockchains are becoming progressively more modular over time, with the Ethereum merge representing one of the largest efforts to change the architecture of a blockchain to date Major upgrades that are beginning to roll out stand to change the way users interact with the Solana and Cosmos ecosystems

Layer by Layer Issue 40: Ethereum, Solana, and Cosmos

Recent data indicate that active wallets across the Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) grew by more than 58% in 2022. What Happened: Solana's network has been growing extensively over the past 18 months.

Solana's Active Wallets Grow, But Not Everything Is Blooming

A closely followed crypto strategist is reacting to the recent market-wide rally, updating his predictions for a trio of digital assets. Pseudonymous crypto analyst DonAlt updates his 416,400 Twitter followers on Ethereum (ETH) after the leading smart contract platform went vertical on the Bitcoin (BTC) trading pair. “Full send, as expected.

News for Solana Crypto (SOL)