Solana: The blockchain advertised as an alternative to Ethereum

The prices for cryptocurrencies may be traded well below their high of 2021, but the blockchain euphoria lives on. The dream of immediate, automated, transparent and decentralized online transactions promotes new investments in networks.

Solana, which was launched in 2020 and is supported by the Risk capital company Andreessen Horowitz from the Silicon Valley, has attracted attention as a blockchain with a business case. Like Ethereum, it enables the creation of intelligent contracts with its technology. But where Ethereum is slow and can only process 13 transactions per second, Solana boasts that it is both faster and cheaper.

The co -founder of Ethereum claims that Solana pays users more for the validation of transactions - and pay effectively for speed in a way that, in his opinion, is not sustainable. Sounds like acidic grapes. Interest in Solana is evident in the prices for his tokens. Cryptocurrency today is the sixth largest digital currency in the world Coin, according to Coingecko.

A new upswing drove the course up by about a third last week. Boosters include the use for non-fungible tokens (NFT) collections and the inclusion in the large cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase. But at $ 136.50 it remains below the November maximum of $ 259. As with any cryptocurrency, volatility is constant.

Investments in blockchain technology require trust that this represents the building blocks of the next phase of online life and not just a mechanism for the introduction of foamer digital currencies. The ability of Solana to support decentralized applications and the idea that it is scalable are the actual attraction.

However, it is a work in progress. In addition to volatility and the excruciating question of future regulation, there are justified concerns about security after failures and justified questions about how decentralized Solana is, especially when the founding team from Solana Labs accepted a large part of the distributed tokens. It is not even clear that several blockchains are necessary. The advantage of Ethereum could leave Solana far behind.