Solana is a decentralised blockchain that serves as a great foundation for building DApps, characterised by scalability, security and user-friendliness. The scalability provided by Solana is achieved by combining the Proof of Stake and Proof of History consensus mechanisms.
Solana claims to be the blockchain with the best speed and fastest-growing crypto ecosystem, supporting thousands of DeFi, NFT, and Web3 projects.
On top of that, multiple kinds of tokens can be issued on Solana.
By being able to handle 50,000 transactions per second, Solana is giving the biggest blockchain players, Bitcoin and Ethereum, a run for their money.
In brief
- Solana is a blockchain for hosting scalable and decentralised applications
- SOL is Solana's native token
- Without sacrificing decentralisation, Solana can support up to 50,000 transactions per second.
Who created SOL?
In 2017, Anatoly Yakovenko founded Solana after acquiring very valuable knowledge working in leading tech companies such as Dropbox and Qualcomm. With the help of Eric Williams and Greg Fitzgerald, Yakovenko set out on a mission to create a blockchain that doesn't face throughput issues common with Bitcoin and Ethereum.
After its conceptualisation, Solana (as part of Solana Labs) started receiving funding in 2018. During the Series A funding round in 2019, the Solana team received $20 million and another $1.76 million in March 2020 in a public token sale.
One of the reasons behind Solana's great potential and current success is, without a doubt, the fact that its team boasts working experience from the world's leading organisations such as Apple, Intel, Google, and Microsoft.
Along with receiving investments from Multicoin Capital, SLOW Capital, Abstract Ventures, and many more, Solana is supported by the Solana Foundation, a non-profit based in Switzerland that funds its development and helps expand its community.
How does SOL work?
Although Solana shares similarities with other blockchains ranging from smart contracting to token issuance, it differentiates itself using one great innovation - the Proof of History consensus mechanism.
What is Proof of History?
Proof of History is first mentioned by Solana's founder, Anatoly Yakovenko, in a 2017 whitepaper.
The main goal of PoH is to enable easier transaction tracking and event ordering which, in turn, makes the Solana blockchain faster and more efficient.
Solana uses Proof of History alongside Proof of Stake - a consensus mechanism where, to validate transactions, a participant of the network needs to stake their crypto.
Why the need for both? Solana reaches a consensus through PoS, which uses the Tower Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) algorithm. This helps validate transactions and keep the network secure. PoH, on the other hand, keeps the order in the network by providing proof that validators have waited enough time before the network moves forward. In a nutshell, it records the passage of time in a ledger allowing all the nodes in the network to rely on it.
What is the SOL token?
SOL is the native token of the Solana blockchain. Launched in March 2020, the SOL token is considered one of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by total market capitalisation.
SOL is used to transfer value, enable token holders to validate transactions through staking, participate in governance, get rewards and pay transaction fees.
Solana also gives out inflation-based rewards to its weighted validators. The size of the reward is based on the number of tokens staked, and the yield is equivalent to the number of tokens staked measured against the entire token supply.
Solana had an original inflation rate of 8%, which is set to reduce by 15% per year until it reaches a final rate of 1.5% annually.
There are 325,986,746 SOL tokens in the circulating supply, with the maximum supply is not available.
According to Messari , this was the initial SOL token distribution:
- 15.86% - Seed Round investors
- 2.63 - Founding Sale investors
- 5.07% - Validator Sale investors
- 1.84% - Strategic Sale investors
- 1.6% - Public Auction Sale investors
- 12.5% - members of the team
- 12.5% - Solana Foundation
- 38% - Community reserve fund
How to buy SOL?
On April 7th, SOL will be listed in the SwissBorg app, allowing you to add it to your portfolio easily. To do so, completing only a few steps is necessary:
- Step 1: Download and install the SwissBorg app.
- Step 2: Set up your SwissBorg account. You can find detailed information on the Opening an Account page in the SwissBorg Help Center .
- Step 3: Transfer (fiat or crypto) funds into your SwissBorg account.
- Step 4: Go to the Marketplace section of the SwissBorg app.
- Step 5: Find the SOL token listing in the app by simply typing SOL into our search feature, marked with a magnifying glass icon in the top-left corner of the screen.
- Step 6: Tap "Deposit", select the fiat or cryptocurrency you want to use for the purchase, enter the amount you wish to spend on the purchase, and tap on "Next".
- Step 7: Tap on "Confirm exchange" to complete the process.
Putting it all together
Solana is seen as a game-changer that tackles important issues of earlier blockchain technology. By doing this, it presents itself as serious competition to Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Many developers believe that due to its speed, which results in low fees and low congestion, Solana could potentially scale to a point where it would rival centralised payment processors like Visa.
With its intelligent technologies and innovative Proof of History mechanism, Solana is definitely a platform worth paying attention to.
Purchase your share of SOL tokens today using the SwissBorg app!
