Let me start by saying that I personally hold SOL in my wallet, so I am slightly biased. But you are here to read why I am.
Solana is a high-performance blockchain platform designed for decentralized applications and scalable smart contracts. It was founded in 2017 by Anatoly Yakovenko.
If you have read into blockchain technology, you might have heard about the Blockchain Trilemma. These are three conflicting design goals that a blockchain network must balance: decentralization, security, and scalability. It is often said that a blockchain network can only excel in two of these areas at the expense of the third.
Solana is focused on security and scalability. The decentralization aspect is lacking because of the hardware requirements to run a validator node (high-end equipment). Not everyone can join the network because a certain speed is required to handle the massive amount of transactions the network is handling.
The Solana network is designed to process thousands of transactions per second (TPS) while keeping transaction fees low.
Solana achieves its high TPS and low transaction fees by utilizing a unique architecture that consists of a high-performance consensus algorithm called Proof of History (PoH), a proof of stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, and parallel processing capabilities.
I think this is what a blockchain needs for it to be acceptable for mass adoption. No one wants to use a blockchain where transaction fees go up to $30 for a single transaction, or waiting minutes for a transaction to be processed. The masses don't care about who is running the validator nodes, so decentralization is the least important aspect to focus on if you're looking for mass adoption of the chain. However, with FireDancer, they are also trying to solve this problem by lowering the hardware requirements while boosting the TPS even higher while keeping it secure.
Solana has the highest number of active developers after Ethereum and is still building strong. Many dApps are in development, and it has great capabilities for the future. For example, with their new NFT compression, it allows you to store your NFT data more efficiently on the network and keep costs low. This is why the Render network (REN) is moving to the Solana blockchain because you can now store full animation on-chain!
Overall, I am very positive about Solana. I use the network every day, and it's fast, cheap, and reliable (even if the blockchain has been down a couple of times). When it's up, it's working very well, and a lot better than most. Show Less
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