What do you mean by SOLANA?
Welcome to Token Thursdays! A weekly breakdown of the most popular cryptocurrencies in the blockchain world. This week we tackle a popular favourite of the crypto community: Solana aka SOL
What is Solana?
Solana is a public, open-source blockchain that supports smart contracts, including non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and a variety of decentralized applications (dApps). Native to Solana’s blockchain is the SOL token which provides network security through staking as well as a means of transferring value. Solana’s immense popularity as a blockchain comes from its super-fast transaction speed and low transaction costs. As per their own information, Solana has a block time of 400 milliseconds and a transaction cost of $0.01 for both developers and users alike. Due to these unique factors, Solana is often praised for its highly scalable nature and is regarded as a direct competitor to Ethereum. It was created in 2017 by Anatoly Yakovenko, based on a hybrid version of the Proof of Stake model called Proof of History.
Key Features
- A highly scalable and optimal blockchain that is favoured among the crypto developer, user & NFT community.
- Based on the Proof of History protocol which is a central feature of its scalability.
- Solana can process many more transactions per second and charges much lower transaction fees than rival blockchains like Ethereum.
- SOL tokens can be used for staking & paying fees within its ecosystem.
What is Proof of History?
Unlike the Proof of Work model, Solana uses the proof-of-history (PoH) protocol, which relies on validators rather than miners to process transactions and mint new cryptocurrency. The proof-of-history method processes transactions in the blockchain network using timestamps submitted by many different validators. The protocol is a series of calculations that gives a digital record that certifies that an event occurred on the network at any point in time. It may be provided as a cryptographic clock that offers a timestamp to every network transaction and a data structure that is a simple addition to it.
How does the Solana blockchain work?
Unlike consensus in other blockchains, Solana nodes must vote on blocks and their transactions’ legitimacy in order for them to become part of the chain. Nodes send votes to the leader and the leader is then responsible for tallying the votes themselves and signing off on the block. However, this method has sometimes led the blockchain community to criticize its decentralized nature.
Even with this criticism, Solana still remains highly popular as it can process as many as 50,000 TPS, with an average cost per transaction of $0.00025. In contrast, Ethereum can only handle less than 15 TPS, while transaction fees reached a record of $70 in 2021.
Where to buy SOL?
As a top 10 cryptocurrency, SOL is available on many exchanges. If you are looking to trade SOL with a fully insured wallet, simply head on over to DIFX and log in or create a new account to start trading!
About DIFX
DIFX is a centralized cross-asset crypto exchange that allows users to trade between multiple asset classes that include indices, forex, crypto, metals, and commodities, just to name a few. The DIFX fully-insured crypto wallet comes from a partnership with Fireblocks, one of the leading crypto custodians in the world.
The Nomination Program is another unique feature of DIFX that allows users to manage the future of their crypto assets by passing them on to their families and loved ones. Recently, the company unveiled its Futures trading platform as well in an attempt to further improve financial inclusion and freedom through innovations offered by blockchain technology.
DIFX was presented with the “Most Trusted Cross-Asset Trading Platform — 2022” by the Crypto Expo Dubai and “Best New Trading Platform Award” at the E-Business Awards 2021 by Entrepreneur Middle East and the Forex Expo 2021.
To begin your journey with Endless Possibilities, download the app now from the iOS or Google Play Store, or visit us at difx.com.
