Since Bitcoin launched in 2009, the innovation of blockchain technologies continues to progress at an incredibly fast pace with no signs of slowing down. While Bitcoin laid the foundation for emerging blockchains to thrive, the blockchain ecosystem remains more competitive than ever before.
From Ethereum, to Avalanche, and Flow, the race to become a "household name" is heating up. The Solana blockchain in particular is making massive strides in becoming one of the top blockchains in the world.
In this article, you'll learn the many benefits of Solana and why it's one of the most important blockchains to keep an eye on. Whether you're an investor or developer, or Web3 entrepreneur, read on to learn more about Solana.
What is Solana (SOL)?
Solana is a blockchain platform and crypto startup that builds and develops crypto apps for decentralized apps and marketplace. Despite being relatively new, it's one of the fastest growing blockchains around. Solana (Solana Labs) was founded in 2017 and is based out of San Fransisco, CA. Solana was founded by Anatoly Yakovenko, when Yakovenko published a whitepaper describing Proof of History (PoH), a technique for keeping time between computers that do not trust one another. The Solana foundation was also created to help further the development of the Solana ecosystem as a whole.
Developers are able to use smart contracts within the Solana ecosystem to create a wide range of useful applications that span decentralized finance and cryptocurrency. Solana is both a blockchain and a token. The SOL token is used by the network to pay for transactions.
Unlike some of the other widely used blockchains, Solana use the proof of stake (PoS) model as opposed to proof of work (PoW.)
The major benefits of Solana
As new blockchains are developed, speed, security, and developer friendliness remain top of mind. Here are some of the biggest benefits of Solana.
1. Transaction speeds are incredibly quick
Solana is one of the fastest blockchains in existence today. Fast transaction speeds were one of the many reasons Parcl Protcol choose to build on Solana. As more and more individuals begin using blockchains at scale, it's critical for blockchains to be able to process transactions quickly.
"Stuck" or pending transactions that take minutes or even hours to confirm does not provide for a great user experience. As of this writing, Solana processes as high as 4,000 transactions per second (TPS). TPS can theoretically be much higher in the future.
2. Low gas costs
Some believe that for blockchain technologies to become "mainstream", the costs associated with using them must be cheaper than they are today. Solana is well positioned for that future state.
Today, a Solana transaction often costs fractions of a penny, which is a great sign for developers building applications that require cheap transactions relative to other popular chains.
3. There's incredible talent building within the Solana ecosystem
The success and adoption of any particular blockchain is largely dependent on the community of builders and entrepreneurs who buy-in to the long-term vision. Solana is a blockchain to watch because of the incredible talent that is building within the Solana ecosystem.
From the NFT platform Magic Eden, the Cardinal Protocol, Orca, and Brave, there's no shortage of amazing projects being built with or integrated with Solana.
As Solana continues to mature, there very likely will be more and more developers and businesses that utilize the amazing platform and community to build the future of Web3.
4. Smart contract functionality
One of the main reasons so many developers love Solana is because of the many unique and innovative features of smart contracts on the platform. From Sealevel to Tower BFT, Solana pushes the pace of blockchain engineering.
Smart contracts on Solana are coded in Rust, C and C++, popular coding languages which make the platform even more accessible.
In addition, Solana does an excellent job of providing detailed documentation for developers looking to get started.
Where Solana can continue to improve
No blockchain is without faults, and Solana is no exception. Despite an incredible team and community and knack for innovation, Solana can be a little complex for developers to use at first.
Additionally, it is relatively new compared to older and more established blockchains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum which means they still aren't fully "battled tested."
Furthermore, Solana has struggled at times when facing high volume usage so it remains to be seen how it can handle "mainstream adoption." Over the last year, the Solana community’s innovation produced multiple upgrades that have addressed outages and they are continuing to address the issue.
Get exposure to real estate using Solana and the Parcl Protocol
Purchasing SOL is just the start. If you're looking to diversify your investment portfolio and get exposure to real estate prices, you can use Solana and USDC to invest in a variety of cities and neighborhoods using applications such as the Parcl Protocol.
From New York, to Phoenix Arizona, the Parcl Protocol makes it easier than ever before to reap the benefits of real estate with no minimum investment.
Shared content and posted charts are intended to be used for informational and educational purposes only. Parcl does not offer, and this information shall not be understood or construed as, financial advice or investment recommendations. The information provided is not a substitute for advice from an investment professional. Parcl does not accept liability for any financial loss or damages. For more information please see the terms of use.
