Shambhavi SoniThe Solana network’s cryptocurrency has ascended to seventh place among the world’s top 10 virtual coins, fuelling speculation that the blockchain might be a long-term competitor to Ethereum.
Solana’s SOL coin has tripled in value in three weeks, according to CoinGecko, and now has a market cap of almost $41 billion. Solana’s proponents praise it for its alleged speed and cheaper transaction costs in decentralised banking and digital collectables, two sectors where Ethereum now reigns dominant.
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“Solana has a healthy ecosystem, businesses are being established on it, and it’s benefited greatly from the hysteria that’s taking on in NFTs,” Antoni Trenchev, co-founder of crypto lender Nexo, said in an email. ” Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are used to exchange digital collectables. He cited the support of crypto tycoon Sam Bankman-Fried — the company’s CEO — as proof.
The Solana coin
Solana bills itself as the world’s fastest blockchain, with an average transaction cost of $0.00025, according to its website. Bankman-Alameda Fried’s Research, venture capital company Andreessen Horowitz, Polychain Capital, and CoinShares were among the investors in a $314 million investment round disclosed in June.
In an email, Monday, Alexandra Clark, sales trader at U.K.-based digital asset broker GlobalBlock, said, “Major companies in the market, such as FTX and Jump, are seeing its potential.” “Not only that, but the network’s move into NFTs with Solanart, the marketplace built on the SOL blockchain, has helped drive the altcoin’s price higher,” she added.
Pyth Network, a Jump Trading-affiliated crypto market data service, went live on Solana’s way late last month, a move that is expected to assist the field of decentralised finance grows. In the near future, it is expected to be able to send market data across the so-called Wormhole Network.
“It’s becoming too big to ignore,” Jonathan Cheesman, head of over-the-counter and institutional sales at FTX, wrote in an email. “It gives a fresh smart contract approach to Ethereum.”
Alternative coins such as Solana’s SOL, Cardano’s ADA, and Binance Coin have risen in value in recent weeks, stealing some of the spotlights from top tokens Bitcoin and Ether in a wide crypto recovery from a May crash. Bitcoin has also risen, approaching $52,000 on Monday.
Some sceptics claim that the technological advancements that are powering some tokens may not be sufficient to justify the scope of the rallies.