Solana – The Ethereum Killer?

In the last article, we discussed the basic working of 2 of the most famous cryptocurrencies – bitcoin and ethereum.

Bitcoin works on proof of work and ethereum uses proof of stake to verify its transactions.

We discussed the limitations of the proof of work process in the last article itself.

Well, even the proof of stake isn’t immune to criticism. Even though proof of stake is faster than proof of work, it is still not as fast in order for it to disrupt the financial transactions of the world.

Etheruem still takes about 5 mins to validate each transaction, which is a hindrance for faster exchange of currency.

The transaction fees of ethereum are not as cheap. They range around $15 per transaction and hence it isn’t a viable mode of currency exchange for medium and small amounts.

Also, ethereum processes only about 15 transactions per second, which might be an improvement over bitcoin, but it is still very low for modern times.

The Blockchain Trilemma

Blockchains are often forced to make trade-offs that prevent them from achieving all 3 aspects:

1. Decentralized: creating a blockchain system that isn’t centrally controlled.

2. Scalable: the ability of a blockchain system to handle and grow larger amounts of transactions.

3. Secure: the ability of the blockchain system to operate as expected, defend itself from attacks, bugs, and other unforeseen issues

As you can see most cryptocurrencies have failed to conquer the blockchain trilemma. And hence we haven’t yet seen a global adoption of cryptocurrencies.

Enter Solana –

Well don’t lose hope, Solana is one such cryptocurrency that claims to have broken the blockchain trilemma. It is fast, secure, decentralized, and scalable. Breaking all boundaries. Well, how does it manage to do this you may ask?

Solana innovated using a process called proof of history.

We are aware of the cons of proof of work and proof of stake, well proof of history aims to eliminate those. 

In this process, the blockchain captures and sends information and a determined time interval continuously while the transaction is taking place. This enables a faster exchange of information as the verification doesn’t need to wait for confirmation by all the nodes in the server. The information has a timestamp attached to it, which helps in tracking the activity and also enables security.

Through proof of history, Solana can achieve the numbers other currencies can’t. That’s the reason why many dApps and other service platforms are making the switch to Solana. Solana also has an ethereum bridge that enables seamless transfer of code from the ethereum blockchain to the Solana blockchain. Since Solana can validate a large number of transactions, the cost per transaction is lesser too, making it viable for small and medium value transfers.

Solana blockchain has its own currency called the sol token which can be traded on the crypto exchanges. 

Bottom Line

Due to all these features, experts predict Solana will have a big market share in the future and is a better alternative to ethereum. Of course, this doesn’t mean that ethereum will cease to exist.

Ethereum being the superior network — with 7,000 nodes and 90,000 validators, compared with Solana’s 600 nodes and 1,000 validators.

Solana is said to be an “Ethereum killer.” 

Solana’s architecture allows it to keep pace, with Moore’s law. This means that as computers become faster over time, so will Solana. Essentially, Solana is future-proofing itself through its scaling capabilities.

If this proves to be the case, will Solana beat ethereum?

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References –

https://cointelegraph.com/news/cointelegraph-research-is-solana-an-ethereum-killer

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