What stands behind the success of Solana?

Bitcoin is vaunted as the king of crypto. However, Ethereum is set to take the crown thanks to the DeFi, Non-Fungible tokens, and smart contracts features. But it is Solana that is shaking the whole industry.

Solana was created in March 2020 and has skyrocketed over 13, 000% year to date. In August alone, Solana increased more than 200%. This massive growth has pushed SOL into the top 10 cryptocurrencies. With a market cap of $41,535,488,581, SOL ranks 7th in terms of market capitalization. As a result, every adept crypto investor is keeping an eye on the cryptocurrency and according to this Solana price prediction, the coin is expected to have a pretty bright future. But what are the reasons behind the success of Solana?

4 Top Reasons Why Solana is Succeeding

1. Colossal Number of Projects 

One of the reasons causing an increase in Solana value is the huge number of projects created on its network. Currently, there are over 400 projects including Decentralized Finance (DeFi) apps. For instance, FTX and Alameda Research created Serum (crypto exchange) on Solana. The network also supports USDC stablecoin and Audius - streaming partner of TikTok. 

The other project that stands out is Solrise Finance, a management and investment protocol that enhances the accessibility of DeFi to investors. In addition, the finance tool enables investors to create their own funds and join and exit investors' funds at will. The blockchain network is also planning to create DeFi games.

2. Degenerate Apes NFTs

Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are the next big thing in the crypto world. In simple terms, the NFTs are used to prove ownership of digital assets. For instance, developers backup digital arts with key data by coding copyright and ownership information into the tokens. 

The sale of NFTs has increased several fold since 2020 and partially explains why prices of blockchain networks such as Solana have proliferated. Solana has made great inroads into NFTs with Degenerate APES taking the world by storm. 

Degenerate apes are costumed apes with various traits and varying degrees of rarity. The demand for degenerate apes is massive. In mid-September Solana's network experienced a hitch after the transaction load peaked at 400000 TPS. In the first 10 minutes, investors bought 10000 apes. 

3. Fast Processing Speed

Very few cryptos can match the speed of the Solana. It is designed with a hybrid protocol that significantly reduces the validation period of smart contract executions and transaction speed. With a speed of over 50000 transactions per second (TPS), Cardano is at par with Visa payment processing capacity and ranks top of the fastest networks. To put this into perspective, Ethereum's current speed is up to 45 TPS. However, Ethereum is expected to boot its processing speed with the slated upgrade. But Solana is also planning to push its speed to 700000. 

Remember, Solana has numerous functions such as developing DeFi, unlike Bitcoin which is only used to process payments. Therefore, speed is an important factor in the growth and development of the crypto. Here is the best part. Solana transactions are 200 cheaper than Ethereum. 

4. WormHole project

Currently, it is difficult for two crypto networks to work with each other. This is where the Wormhole project comes in. The wormhole project is designed to enable blockchain networks to communicate with each other with ease. The technological invention is revolutionizing the crypto industry by alleviating what has been historically a stumbling block in the growth of the crypto industry. Here is an example: you can now transfer assets between Solan and Ethereum. Similarly, Connecting Finance Smart Chain and LUNA is a work in progress.  

5. An ideal Ethereum Alternative 

Unlike bitcoin, Ethereum has numerous uses. It was the first programmable blockchain network and can be used to develop other cryptocurrencies and applications. However, it is experiencing congestion as developers rush to build applications. The fees are also relatively high. As a result, many users including investors and developers are looking for crypto alternatives. 

Solana is proving to be one of the ideal options. It is joining Cardano in a list of programmable blockchain networks dubbed Ethereum killers. If it continues to enhance its services Solana would eventually become a top competitor of Ethereum. Besides being cheap, its Rust programming language is relatively easy to use. 

Conclusion Note

Solana is on a growth trajectory and does not show signs of slowing down any time soon. With the increasing demand for DeFi and other features, the future of Solan looks bright. However, the crypto developers should continually work to enhance Solan features and overcome impending challenges. For instance, there is stiff competition in the programmable blockchain sector.  Also, the government is in process of regulating DeFi and crypto space in general. The good news is that Solana projects have raised massive amounts in funding pointing to good things to come. Who knows it might emerge as the top cryptocurrency in the future?