In previous blog articles, weโve covered a broad view of cryptocurrency and offered a closer look at Bitcoin and Ethereum.
๐ In this article, weโll take a closer look at the cryptocurrency and platform โ Solana and provide information on what it is and how it works. Here is our brief guide to get you on a clearer path to understanding.
๐ฐ SOLANA IN A NUTSHELL
๐ Solana is a secure blockchain platform designed to host decentralized, scalable and user-friendly applications.Built to improve on Ethereum, it is often referred to as โEthereum killerโ.
๐ช The SOL token is the native cryptocurrency of the Solana blockchain.
๐ SOLANA HISTORY
Founded in 2017, Solana is an open-source project currently run by the Solana Foundation based in Geneva ๐จ๐ญ, while the blockchain was built by San Francisco-based Solana Labs. The project is named after the small Southern Californian coastal city of Solana, and is the brainchild of software developer Anatoly Yakovenko. Yakovenko published a white paper ๐ in November 2017 describing the Proof-of-History concept (see below for more info).
SOLANA TOKENOMICS
Solana does not have a fixed max supply. What is fixed is the inflation rate YOY. The current total supply of Solana is 511,616,946 SOL.The circulating supply of SOL is currently 359,728,877. The current market capitalization of Solana is approximately USD$11.77 billion.
โ๏ธ PROOF OF HISTORY CONCEPT
Solana is a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) blockchain but improves on it with a mechanism called Proof-of-History (PoH).
๐ The Proof-of-History (PoH) concept is a proof that uses hashed timestamps to verify order and passage of time between events. Iit is used to encode trustless passage of time into a ledger.
๐ The 2017 white paper by Yakovenko noted that blockchains that were then publicly available did not rely on time. Rather, each node in the network relied on its own local clock without knowledge of any other participants' clocks in the network.
The lack of a trusted source of time (i.e., a standardized clock) meant that when a message timestamp was used to accept or reject a message, there was no guarantee that every other participant in the network would make the exact same choice.
โฒ๏ธ PoH addresses this hurdle, by making every node in the network able to rely on the recorded passage of time in the ledger on the trustless basis that is key to blockchain functioning.
๐ SOLANA vs ETHEREUM
Solana's rapidly expanding ecosystem and versatility have inevitably drawn comparisons to Ethereum, the leading blockchain for decentralized applications (dApps). Both have smart contract ๐ capabilities that allow for running cutting edge applications like DeFi and NFTs. A dedicated NFT marketplace created specifically for Solana is Magic Eden.
They also both use PoS consensus, although Solana has improvements on this with a delegated PoS and its PoH concept. By using a unique blend of proof of history and delegated proof of stake, Solana offers exponentially faster transaction speeds than its closest competitors, Ethereum and Cardano (ADA), at a fraction of the cost.
Regarding speed, Solana has been much faster in terms of the number of transactions it can process and has significantly lower transaction fees than Ethereum. Solanaโs PoH concept speeds up the blockchain tremendously compared with other blockchain systems without clocks. How Solana will fare against Ethereumโs recent โmergeโ upgrades and move to PoS, along with its massive ecosystem, is yet to be seen.
๐ฒ SOLANA PRICE
When Solana initially launched in early 2020, it had a minimal value that fluctuated between USD$0.54 and for its first few months of trading (through to early 2021), its value remained between USD$0.87 and USD$4.00. As the popularity of Solana and the increased interest in NFTs soared in 2021, SOL reached an initial peak in September, ย 2021 of USD$209.47. At its next price peak in late 2021, the Solana value reached an all time high price of USD$258.78.
Solana Price USD Chart full history.
Source: CoinMarketCap
๐ EARNING SOLANA WITH BLOOM
๐ฒ.The Bloom shopper rewards app allows you to earn Solana and other crypto (like Bitcoin, Ethereum and a range of other altcoins) with every purchase made on your Visa card ๐ณ.
๐ฆ All you need to do is download the Bloom app, register an account, link your Visa card and shop anywhere using your credit or debit card.
With every purchase, you will earn Bloom Coins by simply using your Visa card ๐ณ. The more you use your card, the more Bloom Coins you will earn.
๐ฐ The Bloom Coins you earn can be spent within the app ๐ and converted into Solana.
๐ Converting crypto on Bloom, such as Solana, is free of charge and has no gas fees!
๐ Earn exclusive 3x Bloom Coin rewards with a Premium Membership.
The information provided on this website does not constitute investment advice, financial advice, trading advice, or any other sort of advice and you should not treat any of the website's content as such. Bloom does not recommend that any cryptocurrency or NFTs should be bought, sold, or held by you. Do conduct your own due diligence and consult your financial advisor before making any investment decisions.