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
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Nearly $4.5 million worth of tokens have been drained from thousands of Solana wallets since Tuesday night. Here's the latest.

Solana Wallet Hack: Here's What We Know So Far

Ethereum

A leading NFT marketplace announced it will begin integrating Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) NFTs onto its platform, which could provide increased competition for market leader OpenSea. Can Magic Eden succeed at taking share from OpenSea?

Can Magic Eden's Ethereum NFT Marketplace Succeed Where Others Have Failed?

The Solana smart contract project is suffering from issues once again after it was discovered that close to 8,000 Solana-based wallets have been compromised. Solana is asking victimized wallet owners to complete a survey and the team stressed that “engineers are investigating the root cause.

Solana Suffers Exploit — Close to 8,000 SOL-Based Wallets Have Been Compromised

Nearly 8,000 digital wallets have been drained of just over $5.2 million in digital coins including solana's sol token and USD Coin (USDC), according to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic.

Ongoing solana attack targets thousands of crypto wallets, costing users more than $5 million so far

The exact cause of this exploit remains unknown, but analysts believe that a flaw in wallet software may be to blame, rather than issues with the Solana blockchain itself.

Thousands of Solana Wallets Drained in Attack — SOL Worth Millions of Dollars Stolen

The Solana Layer 1 blockchain continues to suffer from an exploit targeting its crypto wallets, with more than 7,000 addresses affected. The post Solana exploit enters second day as CEO points to attack on Apple hot wallets appeared first on The Block.

Solana exploit enters second day as CEO points to attack on Apple hot wallets

Early Wednesday, an unknown attacker drained at least $5 million of SOL and other tokens from Solana digital wallets.

SOL Token Holds Price Support After Million-Dollar Hack Brings Bad Optics for Solana

The Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) network went offline briefly on Tuesday night following reports that private keys to hot wallets in the ecosystem had been compromised. What Happened: Solana Status reported a “minor service outage” prompting speculation from market participants that developers had intentionally halted the network to prevent the ongoing exploit from worsening.

Solana Blockchain Reports 'Outage' As Developers Investigate Exploit

The Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) blockchain appears to be facing an ongoing exploit that has compromised users' private wallets across the ecosystem. What Happened: On Tuesday, market participants reported a “potentially massive” hack on Solana.

BREAKING: Solana Ecosystem Hack Sees $5M Drained From Private Wallets

About 5,000 wallets appear to be affected in an ongoing exploit on the Solana network. The situation is developing. The post More than 5,000 wallets drained in apparent exploit on Solana network appeared first on The Block.

More than 5,000 wallets drained in apparent exploit on Solana network

More than 5,000 wallets are reportedly affected, and Solana's price plunged within hours.

Solana, USDC Among Wallets Drained in Unfolding Attack

The exploit is targeting unsuspecting Phantom users with loose wallet permissions.

Phantom Wallet Exploit Drains Millions in SOL Tokens

Cardano

It's unclear when investors may regain access to market-leading assets like Bitcoin or Ethereum, or to stablecoins.

Zipmex Resuming Z Wallet Withdrawals—But Just for SOL, XRP, ADA

Recently valued at $1.6 billion, Magic Eden will begin its multi-chain expansion with Ethereum in the coming weeks.

Solana Unicorn Magic Eden Expands NFT Marketplace to Ethereum

A popular crypto analyst is predicting that one big Ethereum rival will rally and says ETH itself is showing significant strength.

Crypto Analyst Predicts Rally for Ethereum Competitor As ETH Showing ‘Nothing but Strength'

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

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

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.

News for Solana Crypto (SOL)