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 Labs COO and co-founder Raj Gokal weighs in on Visa's move to expand its payments pilot to the Solana blockchain.

Solana Labs COO Raj Gokal calls Visa pilot a ‘big step' for digital payments

The eighth event in a series, Hyperdrive hackathon aims to spur the development of new tools and apps on the Solana network.

Solana hackathon will award up to $1 million in prizes and funding

A widely followed crypto strategist believes that one Ethereum (ETH) competitor with high institutional interest has massive upside potential. The anonymous host of InvestAnswers tells his 447,000 YouTube subscribers that Solana (SOL) has key advantages over ETH that could send its price soaring.

One Ethereum Rival at ‘Screaming' Low Prices Amid Institutional Interest: InvestAnswers

Payments giant Visa announced plans to expand its stablecoin settlement capabilities by utilizing the Solana blockchain.

Visa Expands USDC Stablecoin Settlements Using Solana

Solana is continuing to lose momentum, with the number of daily active addresses hitting the lowest point since The Block started tracking the data in late 2020.

Solana users fall to lowest level in more than 2 years

In a significant move towards modernizing cross-border financial transactions, payments giant Visa Inc (NYSE: V) announced on Tuesday its plans to extend its stablecoin settlement capabilities to the Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) blockchain. This development came in collaboration with major merchant acquirers, Worldpay and Nuvei.

Visa Wants To Revolutionize Cross-Border Payments With Solana

Visa has announced that its expanding its stablecoin settlement capabilities with a new system based on the Solana (SOL) network. In a new press release, Visa says that after a successful pilot involving digital asset exchange Crypto.com, it's launching a new cross-border money system using Circle's USDC on Solana.

Payments Giant Visa Selects Ethereum Rival Solana (SOL) for Stablecoin Settlement Expansion

The payments giant doesn't seem to be slowing down with its crypto ambitions.

Visa Promises Faster Credit Card Payments With USDC on Solana

Bitcoin

The native token of the Solana blockchain jumped on Tuesday after announced it will expand its stablecoin capabilities to the Ethereum alternative.

Solana jumps on Visa stablecoin announcement as bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies remain flat

The company said it is one of the first major payment institutions to use directly the Solana network for settlements.

Visa Taps Solana and USDC Stablecoin to Boost Cross-Border Payments

Visa is taking a step in advancing digital currency adoption by expanding its stablecoin settlement capabilities to the Solana blockchain network. The payments giant also announced new pilot programs with merchant acquirers Worldpay and Nuvei to explore streamlining settlement in the Circle-issued stablecoin USDC.

Visa Expands Stablecoin Settlement to Solana and Merchant Acquirers

Ethereum

Visa expanded its USDC stablecoin settlement capabilities to Ethereum and Solana, forming partnerships with Worldpay and Nuvei.

Visa expands stablecoin settlement options to Ethereum and Solana

The P2P has put forward a funding proposal to the Lido DAO community, requesting $1.5 million to continue offering liquid staking on the network.

Lido contributor requests $1.5 million funding to grow Solana liquid staking

Cryptocurrency price analysis brought by Coinidol.com. The price of Solana (SOL) has fallen to the predicted level of $19.68.

Solana's Margin Remains Narrow As Rejection Looms At $20

MakerDAO co-founder proposes a fork of Solana's codebase, while StarkNet wallet Braavos leaks an article on STRK token — check out the latest DeFi news and launches now!

Week in DeFi: EELS, MakerDAO Co-Founder Favors Solana and Akash Mainnet Goes Live

Despite a significant outflow in the past seven weeks, with large institutional investors selling a total of $342 million in cryptocurrencies for the seventh consecutive week, one altcoin has managed to capture the attention and favor of large entities. What Happened: European digital asset manager CoinShares reported that institutional investors have been actively pouring money into ‘Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) Rival' Solana (CRYPTO: SOL), which currently ranks as the 10th biggest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

Not Dogecoin, Shiba Inu But This 'Ethereum Rival' Is The 'Most Loved Altcoin' Among Large Investors

Rune Christensen, a co-founder of Maker, the Ethereum-based stablecoin protocol, has proposed to reimplement the protocol on a new chain forked from Solana. This move would be the final part of “Endgame,” an update to the protocol that seeks to grow the stablecoin dai by enhancing “efficiency, resilience, and participation.

Maker Co-Founder Proposes Future Protocol Implementation on Solana Fork

Digital assets manager CoinShares says that one top Ethereum (ETH) rival is being cherished over all other altcoins this year. In its latest Digital Asset Fund Flows Weekly Report, CoinShares finds that while the overall digital asset markets suffered minor outflows last week, Solana (SOL) saw minor inflows for the ninth consecutive week.

This Ethereum Rival Is the ‘Most Loved Altcoin' by Institutional Investors This Year, According to CoinShares

Investors have been withdrawing from altcoin crypto funds, but Solana is an exception.

Solana Is the ‘Most Loved Altcoin Among investors', Says CoinShares

The Ethereum co-founder sold $580,000 in MakerDAO's MKR tokens, as the stablecoin platform plans a new Solana-based appchain.

Vitalik Buterin Sells MKR Tokens as MakerDAO Co-Founder Pushes for Solana-based ‘NewChain'

Ethereum co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, has completed the sale of his entire remaining stake of 500 MakerDAO tokens on CoW Protocol, earning 353 ETH.

Vitalik Buterin Sells Remaining MakerDAO Tokens Worth $578K as Project Considers Solana-Based NewChain

Rune Christensen, the co-founder of MakerDAO, has unveiled a proposal that could reshape the future of the decentralized finance (DeFi) project.

MakerDAO Co-Founder Christensen Suggests Solana-Based Native Chain For “Endgame”

MakerDAO's co-founder Rune Christensen has said that Solana is a “better fit” as the basis for MakerDAO's new blockchain.

‘Ethereum Is Awesome', Says Solana Co-Founder Amid Planned MakerDAO Migration

MakerDAO co-founder Rune Christensen is proposing that Maker (MKR) launch its own native blockchain based on the Solana (SOL) codebase. Writing in a new blog post, Christensen reveals plans for the fifth phase of “Endgame,” the long-term roadmap for Maker that was originally laid out in May of 2022.

MakerDAO and DAI Creator Proposes New Native Chain Based on Solana (SOL) Fork

Solana co-creator Anatoly Yakovenko says that SOL tokens sitting in the reserves of FTX should be redistributed to the bankrupt crypto exchange's former customers.

News for Solana Crypto (SOL)