How to invest in Solana with a Solana IRA

What is Solana?

Solana is the self-proclaimed “fastest blockchain in the world,” with transaction speeds that rival the “speed of light.” With transactions per second (TPS) of 50,000 and up, Solana is faster than both Bitcoin and Ethereum. As a smart contract platform, Solana seeks to pick up where other blockchains leave off with its speedy transaction times and rock-bottom fees.

Solana was founded in 2017 by Anatoly Yakovenko, an alum of Qualcomm who was born in the former Soviet Union. Solana is an open-source decentralized platform that uses a hybrid model of Proof-of-History (PoH) and Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus. The project raised $25 million-plus during the ICO boom of that era, and the Mainnet made its debut in 2020.

Perhaps, you’ve been wondering lately “Is Solana a good investment” or how to buy Solana. Even if you’ve never heard of Solana, you’ll want to keep reading. It’s become a blockchain to watch while its native cryptocurrency, which goes by the same name and whose ticker symbol is SOL, is valued at nearly $65 billion, at last check.

Given the rapid ascent of Solana’s price (it skyrocketed by 10,000% the first nine months of 2021), many crypto investors are buzzing on social media about their hopeful outlook to potentially retire comfortably thanks to their SOL investment. Thus, some may have an answer to the question: Is Solana a good investment. Whether or not that’s the case, having Solana in your crypto IRA may be a good way to diversify your portfolio. And while cryptocurrencies tend to be volatile, having exposure to SOL means you can potentially ride the wave to future gains.

The Basics of Solana

What is Solana? It’s a Layer 1 blockchain on which developers build decentralized apps (dApps), which is one of the chief use cases for blockchains. In fact, Solana has emerged as one of the most popular platforms for decentralized finance (DeFi) apps as well as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which appear to be two of the hottest segments in the cryptocurrency industry.

As of October 2021, there was $11.5 billion in total value locked (TVL) on the Solana blockchain, which reflects the total amount of assets that have been poured into Solana-based DeFi protocols. This is a major vote of confidence among developers and investors alike. Solana’s profile for NFTs is also on the rise. The maiden million-dollar Solana-based NFT was sold in September 2021. By October, an NFT from the SolanaMonkeyBusiness collection sold for more than $2 million.

In addition to applications, developers can also create their own tokens on Solana, like how Ethereum became popular back in 2017 and 2018 during the ICO boom. On Solana, new tokens are issued using the SPL standard, which is comparable to Ethereum’s ERC-20 model.

Solana is designed for speed and projects that are looking to gain scale. To that end, it can handle 50,000-65,000 TPS, boasting speedy confirmation times of 400 milliseconds. Transaction fees are less than a penny, at $0.000005. What this boils down to is that tens of thousands of users could be on the Solana blockchain at once and the network would be no worse for the wear.

Key Concepts of Solana

• Solana token: Solana (SOL) is the native cryptocurrency of the Solana ecosystem.
• Proof of stake (PoS): Solana uses what’s known as a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus algorithm. This is different from the more energy intensive proof-of-work (PoW) system used by Bitcoin and from which Ethereum is moving away. With PoS, users stake the SOL tokens, which involves delegating SOL holdings to validator nodes, which in turn do the heavy lifting with computer hardware to secure the network. In exchange for staking, SOL holders earn rewards.
• Proof-of-History (PoH): There is a great deal of technical jargon associated with PoH, but in a nutshell it comes down to the order of transactions over time. PoH gives the Solana blockchain its speed without compromising security or decentralization.
• Smart contracts: Smart contracts on Solana are called programs, which are what make Solana suitable for DeFi applications. Developers can build programs on Solana using the Rust, C++, and C programming languages.
• Censorship resistant: The Solana project describes it best: “A network’s censorship resistance is a measure of its ability to withstand disruptions or attacks.”

When it comes to determining whether Solana is a good investment, it may be helpful to note that Solana’s founder, Anatoly Yakovenko, is not satisfied with the status quo. Despite the project’s success, he is striving for the next best consensus protocol. Crypto is not a zero-sum game, and there is room for Solana and Ethereum. The fact that our Bitcoin IRA platform has integrated this popular cryptocurrency with a thriving ecosystem for crypto IRAs is something that investors, who aren’t afraid of some volatility, may want to consider taking advantage of for their retirement savings.

Solana vs. Ethereum

Solana’s stiffest competition is Ethereum. Ethereum is not only the biggest smart-contract platform, but it was also the first. Given its history, Ethereum has become the most popular network for building decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), both areas in which Solana is taking share.

In fact, Solana may want to thank Ethereum. Reasons why so many developers have gone looking for other options are due to Ethereum’s lofty fees and slow transaction times. Solana has become a blockchain of choice because it addresses Ethereum’s shortcomings and solves the pain points that its larger rival has been plagued with.

For example, Ethereum is limited by roughly 15 transactions per second. Given the demand for markets like DeFi, this pace is problematic for users and developers building on the blockchain alike, having led to higher transaction fees and slower confirmation times.

Sometimes, being first out of the gate can be a double-edged sword, as it tips your hand to the competition, showcasing what needs to be improved. By addressing Ethereum’s limited pace for transactions, Solana has positioned itself to appear attractive to users and developers, alike.

So, while competition could be considered a risk for investing in SOL, it also serves as a strong point since it’s made Solana into the blockchain network that it is today. Solana’s native cryptocurrency, SOL, has muscled its way into the top seven cryptocurrencies by market capitalization in its relatively short history. And while it might not be No. 2, like Ethereum is, that is still not too shabby.