Solana Solana

$177.73 0.00% SOL
Volume (24h)
$—
24h High
$177.73
24h Low
$177.73
Circulating Market Cap
$73,181,653,010
Total Market Cap
$80,447,819,355
Bid / Ask
$244.28 / $244.38

What is Solana (SOL)?

Solana (SOL) is a high-performance, open-source blockchain platform designed to provide fast, scalable, and decentralised applications (dApps). Launched in 2020, Solana aims to support mass adoption by enabling thousands of transactions per second with low fees. It uses a unique combination of Proof of Stake (PoS) and Proof of History (PoH), which timestamp transactions and organise them in a sequence that validators can process efficiently. This design ensures Solana can handle applications requiring high throughput, such as finance, NFTs, payments, and gaming.

Solana's ecosystem is built around a single, global state machine that ensures all transactions and data interactions happen in sync across the network. Its design focuses on scalability, offering features like low-latency transaction confirmations (400ms block times) and low fees (typically 0.00064 SOL per transaction).

What is Solana (SOL) used for?

SOL, the native cryptocurrency of Solana, serves multiple purposes within its ecosystem:

  • Transaction fees: SOL is required for paying transaction and smart contract fees. These fees are minimal compared to other blockchains like Ethereum.
  • Staking: SOL can be staked to secure the network and participate in consensus. Stakers (or delegators) can earn rewards based on the amount of SOL staked and contribute to the network’s security.
  • On-chain governance: SOL holders can vote on protocol upgrades and network changes.
  • dApps and DeFi: Solana supports decentralised applications, including DeFi platforms, NFTs, and gaming ecosystems. Projects like Serum, Mango Markets, and Coin98 are examples of dApps powered by Solana.
  • NFTs and tokenisation: Solana supports the creation and management of both fungible and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), enabling users to issue assets on-chain efficiently.

Who created Solana (SOL)?

Solana was founded by Anatoly Yakovenko in 2017. A former engineer at Qualcomm, Yakovenko proposed the idea of Proof of History (PoH) in a whitepaper to solve blockchain scalability issues by timestamping transactions. He teamed up with Greg Fitzgerald, another Qualcomm alumnus, and others to launch the Solana blockchain. The project is supported by Solana Labs, which develops the core technologies, and the Solana Foundation, which supports the network’s development and community engagement. Solana’s mainnet officially launched in March 2020.

Additional Features and Architecture

  • Account Model: Solana operates with an account-based system where all data is stored in "accounts," similar to a key-value store. This account model allows for efficient state management on-chain.
  • Cross Program Invocation (CPI): One of Solana's key features is its composability through Cross Program Invocation (CPI), where smart contracts (called "programs") can invoke each other. This makes it easier for dApps to interact and build on top of one another.
  • Validators and Clusters: Solana relies on a network of validators that work together in "clusters" to process transactions and secure the network. These clusters ensure decentralisation and scalability, allowing Solana to function at high speeds even with a large number of validators.
  • Economic Model: Solana's economic model includes protocol-driven inflationary rewards distributed to stakers, ensuring a long-term incentive structure for participants. This model, coupled with transaction fees, supports both network security and decentralisation.
  • Program Derived Addresses (PDA): Program Derived Addresses (PDAs) allow for the deterministic creation of accounts on-chain, enabling smart contracts to programmatically sign transactions.