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

Bitcoin

Ethereum

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) is rolling out cryptocurrency trading on its E*Trade platform charging 50 basis points per transaction, undercutting Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN), Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD), and Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW). The Pricing War Begins Morgan Stanley's 50-basis-point fee is about half of Robinhood's 95 basis points.

Morgan Stanley Undercuts Coinbase, Robinhood On BTC, ETH, SOL Trading Fees

At Consensus Miami 2026, Solana Foundation President Lily Liu argued that stablecoin adoption by firms like Western Union validates Solana's role as financial infrastructure for both human and machine economies.

Beyond humans: Lily Liu says Solana is building the payment rails for the 'AI machine economy'

Solana's Drift Protocol says most of the stolen funds linked to North Korean hackers remain traceable—and it has a plan to make victims whole.

How Solana Exchange Drift Plans to Repay Users After $295 Million Crypto Hack

Solana's new service lets AI agents pay for Google Cloud and community APIs on a per-request basis, bypassing traditional accounts.

Solana and Google Cloud Launch Stablecoin Payments Service for AI Agents

SoFiUSD is a fully reserved U.S. dollar stablecoin issued by SoFi Bank, nationally chartered bank.

SoFi to launch its stablecoin on Solana, citing speed and cost

The State Street Galaxy Onchain Liquidity Sweep Fund lets investors push stablecoins into a yield-bearing tokenized fund.

State Street and Galaxy launch fund on Solana designed to ‘sweep' stablecoins into productive vehicle

Investors allege the rapper misled buyers about the token's real-world utility.

Iggy Azalea Faces Lawsuit Over Solana Meme Coin

Speaking at Consensus Miami 2026, the Solana co-founder said that he is excited to see 'Alpenglow' upgrade go live later this year, which could come as early as next quarter.

Solana's 'Alpenglow' upgrade could arrive next quarter, co-founder Yakovenko says

DFlow is used by both Coinbase and Phantom and has processed over $50 billion in cumulative trading volume.

MoonPay acquires Solana execution layer firm DFlow used by Coinbase, Phantom

The Solana Foundation's Pay.sh provides a way for AI bots to discover, access, and pay for API usage on Google Cloud.

Google Cloud, Solana Foundation roll out new pay-as-you-go system for AI agents

Jito 

JTX is the company's first product built specifically for traders. It allows users to trade tokens on Solana while maintaining self-custody.

Jito Labs launches self-custody trading tool as activity heats up on Solana

Wormhole

The activation is powered by Wormhole Labs' Sunrise platform, which acts as a "day-one asset gateway" for bridging native assets.

Wormhole bridges ‘canonical' version of Bittensor's TAO token to Solana

Tron

Russia's Moscow Exchange (Moex) will begin publishing four new cryptocurrency indexes for solana ( SOL), XRP, tron ( TRX), and BNB starting May 13, expanding its regulated crypto benchmark suite beyond bitcoin and ether for the first time.

Russia's Moscow Exchange to Launch SOL, XRP, Tron and BNB Crypto Indexes on May 13

Dogecoin

Bitcoin is back above $80,000 after Monday's brief reversal on the disputed Iran missile claim, with options markets quietly setting up for a breakout even as skew still favors downside protection.

Bitcoin crosses $81,000, ETH, SOL, DOGE steady as options desks bid on further price jump

The 175-year-old money-transfer giant Western Union has officially launched a new stablecoin on the Solana (SOL) blockchain. Western Union's new USDPT coin is fully backed by US dollars and issued by Anchorage Digital. Devin McGranahan, Western Union's president and CEO, says the stablecoin will integrate into the financial giant's existing payment systems.

Western Union Officially Rolls Out USDPT Stablecoin on Solana Blockchain

Remittance giant Western Union's USDPT token will power cross-border payments and a consumer spending product launching in 40+ countries.

Western Union Launches USDPT Stablecoin on Solana via Anchorage Digital

Western Union launched a dollar stablecoin on Solana for 24/7 settlement across 200+ countries, the company said Monday.

Western Union launches USDPT stablecoin issued by Anchorage on Solana

The acquisition is expected to create a new revenue stream and make SOL Strategies less reliant on market cycles.

SOL Strategies to acquire cross-chain swap aggregator Houdini for $18 million

The largest crypto reversed sharply from a $80,594 high after Iran's Fars news agency claimed two missiles hit a U.S. warship, with oil spiking 5% before the U.S. denied the report.

Iran missile report sends bitcoin back to $79,000, with ETH, SOL, DOGE sharply lower

Coinbase adding DFlow as its primary router will mean eight times less trade failures.

Coinbase boosts Solana trading with DFlow integration

Chainlink

Grayscale Research said Ethereum, Solana, Canton, Avalanche, BNB Chain, and Chainlink are positioned to benefit as tokenized assets expand. The firm estimated tokenized assets at about $30 billion, up 217% year-over-year. Key Takeaways: Grayscale identified Ethereum, Solana, Canton, Avalanche, BNB Chain, and Chainlink as key beneficiaries of tokenization growth.

Tokenization Megatrend: Grayscale Names ETH, SOL, LINK in $30B Market

Carrot, the Solana-based decentralized finance ( DeFi) yield protocol, announced its shutdown on Thursday, following direct losses tied to the April 1 exploit on Drift Protocol, which drained approximately $285 million from the Drift platform in minutes.

Solana Yield Protocol Carrot Shuts Down After Drift Exploit Drains $8M in TVL

Solana Ventures, Solana Labs' Anatoly Yakovenko and Solana Foundation's Nick Ducoff have all participated in the round.

Solana yield exchange Exponent raises $5 million seed led by Multicoin Capital

The firm's MiCA-compliant euro token aims to speed up euro transfers and support regulated onchain finance as the euro stablecoin market doubled since early 2025.

Germany's AllUnity expands EURAU to Solana as euro stablecoins gain traction

Shinhan Card has partnered with the Solana Foundation to explore stablecoin payments and hybrid finance models. The initiative reflects growing interest among traditional financial firms in blockchain-based infrastructure. Key Takeaways: Shinhan Card and Solana Foundation to launch a stablecoin pilot via testnet. Solana-backed tests signal TradFi shift, as Shinhan explores hybrid finance models.

News for Solana Crypto (SOL)