What Is Solana?
The first obvious question is what Solana is. Solana is a blockchain platform specifically designed to host decentralized applications. It is similar to other leading dApp blockchains like Ethereum and Cardano.
However, Solana is an open-source project currently run by the Geneva-based Solana Foundation. The blockchain was built by developers at San Francisco-based Solana Labs. Solana has gained traction by offering something that the Ethereum blockchain has so far being unable to deliver; faster operation and lower transaction fees.
Unlike Ethereum, Solana is a PoS (proof of stake) blockchain, making it more environmentally friendly than the popular PoW (proof of work) blockchains like Ethereum and Bitcoin. It has a naïve coin called Solana and has the ticker SOL.
The proof of stake protocol used by Solana is currently preferred in the cryptocurrency space. Unlike the proof of work where massive energy is needed to run a blockchain, proof of stake makes the validator nodes on the network to stake something. In the case of Solana, the validators stake the SOL tokens. Although the validators also consume power to operate, their power consumption is far lower than that of the PoW miners.