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

Chainalysis has expanded its coverage to include meme coins launched on the Solana-based platform Pump.fun.

Chainalysis Expands Coverage To Include 4 Million Solana Meme Coins from Pump.fun

The publicly-traded crypto holding company has continued to shed previous investments as it double-downs on the Solana ecosystem.

Sol Strategies plans Nasdaq listing after 2,336% stock surge since July on Canadian exchange

Ethereum remained the blockchain with the most devs, and the overall population of software builders in crypto was flat, the VC firm said in its annual survey.

Solana Was the Biggest Draw for New Crypto Developers in 2024: Electric Capital

Bitcoin

The two founders behind a leading blockchain data firm are diving into what has fueled Bitcoin's (BTC) most recent venture past $100,000. According to Glassnode co-founders Jan Happel and Yann Allemann, inflation data sparked this week's BTC rally to over $100,000.

Glassnode Co-Founders Break Down Bitcoin's Latest Breakthrough, Say Solana (SOL) Is Next

Over 4 million Solana-based memecoins have been deployed via Pump.fun, according to data from Dune Analytics.

Chainalysis expands Solana coverage to include Pump.fun memecoins

Ethereum remains the top blockchain by total developer count, though Solana's dev ecosystem has begun to grow at a faster rate.

Solana surpasses Ethereum as fastest growing crypto ecosystem in terms of new developers: Electric Capital

Solana's first crypto perpetuals aggregators service wants to compete with market leader Hyperliquid.

Ranger Finance Targets Crypto Perps Traders of 'Size' on Solana

Perena wants to be the "neutral layer" bringing liquidity to stablecoin issuers.

Stablecoin Trading Startup Perena Tries Its Luck on Solana

Solana developers recently approved the first block increase in the blockchain's history, signaling a commitment to maintaining network operability and scalability in preparation for the chain's future demand.

Solana Embraces a Path to Scalability: Approves Modest Block Limit Increase

Ethereum

Bitcoin has once again surged past the $100,000 mark, trading at around $100,500 following the release of U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for November.

Cryptocurrency Market Soars: Bitcoin Hits $100,000 While Ethereum, Solana and XRP Record Gains

The hackathon emphasizes leveraging Solana's high-performance blockchain to support the deployment of AI agents on-chain. Solana Wants Innovative AI Agents Solana has launched its first artificial intelligence (AI) hackathon, marking a significant milestone in integrating artificial intelligence with blockchain technology.

Solana Unveils First AI Hackathon With Over $185,000 in Cash Prizes

Pudgy Penguin or a Bitcoin? Both are worth more than $100,000 now with the NFT project surging as traders jockey for airdrop allocations.

Pudgy Penguins NFTs Surge Above $100K on Solana Airdrop Hype

Dogecoin

Bitcoin rose back above $100,000 per coin Wednesday after U.S. inflation data matched expectations, with other top coins also popping.

Bitcoin Bounces Back Above $100K as XRP, Dogecoin and Solana Rebound

Bitwise Investments has outlined an ambitious outlook for 2025, predicting Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) will surpass $200,000 while Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) emerges as a major player in decentralized finance (DeFi) and meme coin ecosystems. What Happened: These forecasts, among other bold predictions, underscore the continued evolution and mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin To $200,000, Ethereum To $7,000, Solana To $750 In 2025, Predicts Bitwise

Marinade proposed taking a “balanced” approach by mitigating harmful MEV as it acknowledges difficulty in eliminating MEV on Solana.

Liquid staking platform Marinade floats proposal to tackle malicious validators and democratize MEV on Solana

Some ME claimants faced issues early on due to demand, but the token launch still substantially rewarded Magic Eden NFT marketplace users.

Magic Eden Traders Rush to Claim Solana Token as Airdrop Value Tops $700 Million

Sushi Labs managing director Jared Grey is outlining what's next for the multichain decentralized exchange (DEX) SushiSwap (SUSHI). Grey notes on the social media platform X that the Sushi decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) passed a comprehensive governance overhaul in April that will use a “multi-token ecosystem mandate to launch new Sushi products.

SushiSwap Head Jared Grey Says Plans for 2025 Include Launching New DEX on Solana (SOL)

Crypto asset management giant Bitwise is revealing its bull market price targets for Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL). In a new report on its outlook for 2025, Bitwise says it expects that BTC, ETH and SOL – “crypto's magnificent three” – will continue rising to make new all-time highs over the next year.

Bitwise Unveils 2025 Predictions for Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana – Here's How High the ‘Magnificent Three' Can Go

Solana‘s (CRYPTO: SOL) lackluster performance over the past month has done little to discourage traders from seeing a bright future for the altcoin. Cryptocurrency Price Market Cap 24-Hour Trend 7-Day Trend Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) $208.69 $99.4 billion -7.3% -6.6% Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) $3,586.94 $432 billion -6.4% +0.5% XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) $2.04 $117.7 billion -14.1% -19.7% Trader Notes: Cypto trader McKenna predicts Solana could quickly reach $500, citing its resilience and potential.

Solana Struggles Compared To ETH, XRP: What Is Going On With SOL?

Solana Foundation's President may be the busiest person in crypto and one of the smartest.

Lily Liu: Solana's Powerhouse Ambassador

The site cemented Solana as the number-one place to launch and trade brand-new memecoins, for better and worse.

Pump.Fun: Solana's Memecoin Juggernaut

Bitcoin has experienced a significant drop, falling below $97,000 after briefly exceeding $100,000 earlier this week.

Dogecoin, XRP, and Solana Lead Declines as Bitcoin Drops Below $97K, Market Faces Widespread Losses

Max Resnick, one of Ethereum's notable researchers, announced he will join Solana-focused research and development firm Anza.

Ethereum researcher Max Resnick moves to join Solana development firm Anza

An influential cryptocurrency analyst on Monday identified Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) and Toncoin (CRYPTO: TON) as the next contenders to reach new all-time highs, following the accomplishments of Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC). What happened: JA Maartunn, a well-known market observer and contributor at on-chain analytics firm CryptoQuant, called Solana a “standout,” underscoring that the cryptocurrency was just 8% away from its peak of $263.21.

Can Solana And Toncoin Print Fresh All-Time Highs Just Like Bitcoin's Recent $100K Move? Here's What This Analyst Says

"There's just so much more possibility and potential energy in Solana," Resnick told CoinDesk after quitting his Consensys job for a job at Anza.

News for Solana Crypto (SOL)