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‑based token launchpad Heaven went live on Aug. 15 and has averaged about 4,100 token launches per day.

New Solana launchpad Heaven grabs 15% market share, outpaces rivals with ‘God Flywheel' model

DeFi Development Corp. disclosed it has purchased $77 million worth of solana ( SOL) using proceeds from a recent equity financing round. Public Company DeFi Dev Corp. Now Holds $371M in Solana On Thursday, DeFi Development Corp. (Nasdaq: DFDV) revealed it had acquired 407,247 solana ( SOL) at an average price of $188.98 per token.

DeFi Development Corp. Bolsters Treasury With $77 Million Solana Purchase

Bitcoin

Lombard Finance has launched its yield-bearing bitcoin token, LBTC, on the Solana blockchain, introducing the yield-generating BTC asset to the ecosystem. Lombard's LBTC Launches on Solana According to the release shared with Bitcoin.com News, the integration brings more than $1.5 billion in liquid staked bitcoin (BTC) to Solana's decentralized finance (DeFi) landscape.

Lombard Introduces Native Bitcoin Yield to Solana's DeFi Ecosystem

﻿In an act of support for decentralized privacy, the Solana Policy Institute has donated $500,000 to the legal defense fund of the Tornado Cash developers.

Solana Policy Institute Donates To Tornado Cash Developers' Legal Defense

DeFi Dev Corp. (ticker DFDV) has purchased $77 million worth of SOL tokens, at an average price of $188.98 per token.

Solana treasury firm DeFi Development purchases 407,247 SOL following equity raise

Bonk

BONK, the Solana-based meme token, advanced 4% in the last 24 hours, reaching $0.0000218 before settling around $0.0000213.

BONK Jumps 4% as Institutional Activity Signals Growing Solana Confidence

The chipmaker has an 8.8% weighting in the S&P 500.

Bitcoin, Solana Rise as Investors Weigh Nvidia Earnings, Strong GDP Data

Ethereum

The federal government has also teamed with Chainlink and Pyth to integrate U.S. macroeconomic data with the DeFi ecosystem.

US Commerce Dept. Puts GDP Data on Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana Blockchains

In today's Crypto for Advisors newsletter, Samantha Bohbot, partner and chief growth officer from RockawayX breaks down decentralized finance and the differences Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana bring to this space.

Crypto for Advisors: The Growth of Solana and Ethererum

The move initially targets blockchains including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Base, Avalanche, Arbitrum, and Optimism.

US government begins distributing key macroeconomic data on public blockchains, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana

Bitcoin DeFi company Labard Finance is extending its fast-growing yield-bearing asset protocol, LBTC, to the Solana Layer 1.

Bitcoin staking startup Lombard launches ‘high-yield' LBTC token to Solana

CoinDesk Indices presents its daily market update, highlighting the performance of leaders and laggards in the CoinDesk 20 Index.

CoinDesk 20 Performance Update: Solana (SOL) Rises 2.9%, as Index Climbs Higher

Play Solana announced that shipments of its PSG1 handheld gaming console will begin on October 6, 2025. The device features an Octa‑Core Rockchip RK3588S CPU, 8 GB LPDDR4X RAM, 128 GB eMMC storage, 3.92″ OLED display (1240×1080), Wi‑Fi 6.0 and Bluetooth 5.

The Play Solana PSG1 Ships in October as Web3 Gaming Hardware Gains Momentum

The Solana advocacy group's funds will aid efforts by Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev, developers of Ethereum coin mixer Tornado Cash, to appeal their respective criminal convictions in the U.S. and the Netherlands.

Tornado Cash Devs Get $500K From Solana Policy Institute to Appeal Convictions

The Solana Policy Institute has donated $500,000 to the legal defense of Tornado Cash software developers Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev.

Solana Policy Institute donates $500,000 to Tornado Cash developers' legal defense

Pump.fun

Pump.fun's daily fees have crossed $1 million early August despite dwindling Solana DEX activity, allowing the protocl finance more token buybacks.

Solana launchpad Pump.fun buys back $15 million in native tokens over past two weeks

Solana developers are pushing a major consensus overhaul with the Alpenglow proposal, now in the validator voting stage.

Solana Targets Near-Instant Finality as Alpenglow Upgrade Heads to Vote

Solana DEX traders are looking elsewhere for gains, with experts citing a rise in meme coin scams and a shift in perspectives.

Solana DEX Traders Continue to Decline Amid a Rise in Meme Coin Scams

Solana's Alpenglow proposal aims to improve the network's consensus mechanism with new, improved architecture.

Solana targets 150-millisecond finality as Alpenglow upgrade proposal enters voting phase

Dogecoin

Bitcoin stalled, but leading altcoins rose on Wednesday, even as investors assessed Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) earnings.

Bitcoin Holds Steady While Ethereum, Dogecoin, Solana Climb: Analyst Says Altcoins Could Rally 20%-30% If ETH Does This

Could Solana be headed for a new all-time high? Users on the Myriad prediction market are becoming increasingly bullish.

Moon or Doom: Solana Surge Leads Crypto Rebound—Where Does SOL Go Next?

The Strategic SOL Reserve has released data showing that 13 entities, including public companies and corporate treasuries, collectively hold 8.277 million Solana (CRYPTO: SOL), equivalent to $1.72 billion at a current price of $208.15 per SOL. This represents 1.44% of Solana's total supply, highlighting significant institutional interest in the cryptocurrency.

Institutions Hold $1.72 Billion In Solana, Strategic Reserve Data Reveals

While bitcoin fell 1.5% against the U.S. dollar this week, several digital assets outperformed the leading crypto asset. Altcoins broadly took the lead, with CRO grabbing attention after climbing nearly 90%. Bitcoin Holds $2.22T Market Cap While Altcoins Like CRO and HYPE Drive $3.89T Crypto Economy Higher By 1 p.m. Eastern time on Aug.

CRO Headlines Altcoin Breakout as HYPE, JTO, SOL Join the Rally With Double-Digit Gains

Solana's SOL outperformed the broader crypto market on Wednesday, climbing 7.68% in 24 hours to trade at $208.24, according to CoinDesk Data. By comparison, the CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20) rose 2.89% and the total crypto market cap gained just 1.6% during the same period.

‘If You Missed ETH at $1,400, SOL Is the Next Big Bet': Analyst Explains Why

Long term holders of the Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) cryptocurrency have had a great five years, up over 5,000% to Ethereum's (CRYPTO: ETH) 1,000% gain. This year has been more lackluster for SOL.

News for Solana Crypto (SOL)