#OnChainInsights Solana is a smart contract platform focused on scalability. It was introduced by Anatoly Yakovenko in 2017 as a new blockchain architecture based on Proof-of-History (PoH) – a novel consensus mechanism for verifying order and the passage of time between events. This innovation allows Solana to scale linearly with hardware advancements, which is how it achieves >3,000 transactions per second. Solana differentiates itself from modular architectures like Ethereum’s by following an “integrated” (sometimes referred to as “monolithic”) approach. Instead of having rollups that host data to the main chain (data availability layer), Solana integrates everything into one protocol with its own consensus.

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The blockchain's native token SOL is used to secure the network through staking and as a medium of exchange – users must pay a small fee denominated in SOL every time they perform a transaction. Solana offers unparalleled speed and access to users, with settlement times of around 400 milliseconds and fees lower than one cent. After being troubled by outages in 2021 and 2022, the collapse of FTX marked Solana’s biggest test to date. Despite the crisis, the network retained a loyal developer community committed to its long-term success. As of December 2023, Solana’s fundamentals have never been more robust, and the exponential rise in on-chain activity is reflective of a thriving ecosystem, perhaps only second to Ethereum.