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

Cardano

Shiba Inu

Bitcoin (BTC) hit a record high above $124,000, and momentum has since eased off. Analysts said profit-taking by long-term holders has been capping gains above $120,000 since mid-July.

Markets Today: ADA, SOL Lead Futures Market Activity, SHIB Burn Rate Explodes

Coinbase is driving a major leap in USDC adoption on Solana, locking it as the default stablecoin across Squads' core products, powering next-gen decentralized finance. Coinbase Just Hit the Gas on USDC Adoption Across Solana's Core Layers Crypto exchange Coinbase (Nasdaq: COIN) and onchain infrastructure provider Squads announced on Aug.

USDC Adoption on Solana Enters Hyperdrive With Coinbase and Squads Alliance

Solana's (CRYPTO: SOL) 18% surge over the past week comes amid strong ETF inflows and real-world adoption, fueling talk of a full-blown "SOL season" revival. Cryptocurrency Ticker Price Market Cap 7-Day Trend Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) $198.08 $106.9 billion +18.3% Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) $121,834.84 $2.4 trillion +5.5% Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) $4,714.14 $569.2 billion +29% Trader Notes: Altcoin Sherpa says $200 is both a psychological barrier and a critical support/resistance zone for SOL.

Solana Soars 18% In 1 Week: Can It Outperform Bitcoin, Ethereum?

Ethereum

"Altcoin season" is heating up again, as signs point to continued momentum for Ethereum, Solana and Cardano. Here's why.

Ethereum, Solana, Cardano Help Send Crypto Markets to Record $4.2 Trillion: Analysis

Recent tests show that "timing games," intentional slot delays combined with latency optimization, can raise Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) validator rewards by up to 3% annually, according to a new performance analysis by Chorus One. The findings challenge prior public remarks from Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko, who said in May 2024 that incentives for such strategies were insufficient.

Gaming The System: How Solana Validators Can Boost Rewards 3% Through 'Timing Games'

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

The Daily: Ethereum Foundation sells ETH as price nears all-time high, Solana hits $200 as broader altcoin market heats up, and more

PUMP traded at its initial coin offering price of $0.004 on Wednesday, as the platform asserted market dominance for seven consecutive days.

Pump.fun Is Back on Top and Solana Meme Coins Are Soaring: Here's Why

Bitcoin

Thumzup recently raised $50 million through a public offering to expand into crypto mining as well as fund token purchases.

Donald Trump Jr. sells large Thumzup stake as firm targets BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, and crypto mining

Dogecoin

Bitcoin and Ethereum aren't the only major cryptocurrencies rising on Wednesday: Solana and Dogecoin have made even bigger gains.

Solana, Dogecoin Surge as Bitcoin Nears New All-Time High Price

On Aug. 13, the total market capitalization of the cryptocurrency ecosystem approached $4.2 trillion, reaching $4.189 trillion, a new all-time high. Solana Leads Top Altcoins as ETH Nears Lifetime High On Wednesday, the cryptocurrency ecosystem's total market capitalization neared the $4.2 trillion mark after several high-cap altcoins recorded significant 24-hour gains.

Solana Leads Altcoin Rally as Crypto Market Cap Reaches Record High

Cryptocurrency markets are trading higher Won ednesday morning, with Ethereum once again leading the way. Cryptocurrency Ticker Price Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) $120,676.91 Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) $4,680.41 Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) $201.40 XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) $3.27 Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) $0.2462 Shiba Inu (CRYPTO: SHIB) $0.00001387 Notable Statistics: IntoTheBlock data shows Bitcoin and Ethereum large transaction decreased by 6.9% and grew 18.2%, respectively.

Bitcoin Cracks $120,000, Ethereum Taps $4,700 As Solana Surges Past $200

Analysts said the psychological and technical milestone signaled renewed investor confidence and stronger market liquidity.

Solana jumps 15% to reclaim $200 as altcoin market heats up on treasury accumulation

Solana (SOL) prices have started to drift sideways after recovering above the $156 support level.

Solana Drifts Sideways Below The $85 Level

Chainlink

Solana and Chainlink led broad altcoin gains after a softer inflation print fueled expectations of a Fed rate cut amid institutional demand.

Solana and Chainlink Lead Crypto Rally With Double-Digit Gains

DeFi Development Corp. is now holding over 1.3 million SOL tokens, worth nearly $250 million in total, according to a shareholder letter.

Solana treasury firm DeFi Development Corp estimates it earns $63k per day in ‘SOL-denominated revenue' on its 1.3M token stockpile

Solana held its ground and closed the week with modest gains, while its ecosystem grew by 8% to claim a market cap above $250 billion.

Solana News: SEC Greenlights LSTs, Seeker Reviews Come In

Experts say that investors are rotating funds into “quality-focused” assets like Ethereum and other altcoins.

Solana Meme Coins Slump as Investors Rotate into ETH & ‘Quality-Focused' Altcoins

LetsBonk mounted a significant challenge in early July, rapidly capturing market share to peak at nearly 70% of graduated tokens.

Pump.fun fends off LetsBonk in battle for top Solana memecoin launchpad

Crypto whales can now use their holdings to buy trips to space, with Blue Origin teaming with Shift4 to accept Bitcoin and more.

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin Now Accepts Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana for Spaceflights

Bonk

Nasdaq-listed Safety Shot (SHOT) has taken a 10% revenue stake in Bonk.fun, among the largest memecoin launchpads on Solana. As part of a deal Safety Shot added $25 million worth of BONK (BONK) to its treasury aligning the public company directly with the platform's growth.

Solana Memecoin BONK Gets a $25M Corporate Treasury Boost

A drinks company is now adopting BONK as a treasury asset, and plans to acquire up to $115 million of the Solana meme coin by year-end.

New BONK Treasury Targets Up to $115 Million in Solana Meme Coin by Year-end

Pump.fun's token surged as the meme coin launchpad clawed back market share from LetsBonk, its biggest competitor on Solana in recent weeks.

PUMP Surges as Meme Coin Launchpad Pump.fun Regains Top Spot on Solana

The company is moving to become an "everything exchange," its CEO said.

Coinbase Rolls Out DEX Trading on Its App Starting With Base—And Solana 'Coming Soon'

Uniswap

The chief investment officer (CIO) of digital asset firm Bitwise, Matt Hougan, believes the pro-crypto stance the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has recently taken is massively bullish for the industry.

‘It's Not Priced In' – Bitwise CIO Says Ethereum, Solana, Uniswap and Others To See Boost From Massive SEC Pivot

Nate Geraci, president of NovaDius Wealth Management, outlined the latest developments in the crypto ETF arena, asserting that BlackRock is expected to file for spot XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) and Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) ETFs — possibly as early as this October. What Happened: In an appearance on the Thinking Crypto podcast on Wednesday, Geraci emphasized the SEC's recent approval of in-kind creation and redemption mechanisms for crypto ETFs as a pivotal regulatory shift.

News for Solana Crypto (SOL)