Solana Now The 4th Biggest Crypto In The World
Popularly referred to as the ‘Ethereum Killer,’ Solana is a clear competitor to Ethereum. It reached an all-time high peak of $260 on November 7, 2021 and became the fourth largest cryptocurrency in the world. Solana has outpoured more than 17,500% in 2021, which makes it, by market capitalization, the 4th largest cryptocurrency.
Due to its secular rally, Solana can boast about acquiring a market cap of nearly $75 Billion, moving past Tether, whose market cap of a bit more than $72.5 Billion.
What Is Solana?
Solana (SOL) was established in 2017 by Anatoly Yakovenko as a public blockchain platform. Anatoly worked at Qualcomm before he became the founder of Solana. So, he was well-experienced in the field and also had a lot of knowledge from his previous work experience as a software engineer at Dropbox.
Solana’s Surge
Solana’s value has increased by 17% this year. Their Lab CEO even commented on blockchain’s place in the crypto ecosystem during its current rise, appreciating Ethereum’s innovation. The acceptance of NFTs on Solana and its rising TVL (total value locked) in DeFi protocols such as Orca and Raydium, have all contributed to the growth of the chain.
Solana Ventures announced a new fund worth $100 million to speed up gaming on the blockchain, in partnership with Lightspeed Venture Partners. Which recently rose to $420 million. They were putting its valuation at $25 billion. The current surge in Solana’s rate is settled at $246.16.
What Does Solana Have to Do With Blockchain Gaming?
Solana has seen its popularity rise in the time of decentralized financing (DeFi). It’s renowned among developers who are no longer interested in Ethereum. Solana advertises itself as a cheap and more convenient alternative. It’s also one of the reasons why Ethereum is looking to upgrade to Ethereum 2.0
It’s not just Pokémon that has caught the eyes of developers, In-game assets’ worth varies. Currently worth almost $3 billion, the largest NFT project as per CryptoSlam’s stats is Axie Infinity, a P2E (Play to Earn) blockchain game.
Doubling on Blockchain Gaming
Star Atlas is undoubtedly the gaming project with which none other can be compared. Solana network, one of the best and leading blockchain studios globally, collected $30 million in its initial funding stage. They’re looking forward to making their metaverse akin to Sandbox and are aimed to win Axie Infinity.
It was collected to develop browser-based games. The collective global gaming industry is currently settled at $175 billion and is expected to cross $200 billion by 2023, according to an analysis done by Esports company, Newzoo. Investments are also rising rapidly in blockchain gaming.
During the first six months of 2021, crypto gaming firms closed 24 deals and doubled their amount of the past year with a total of $476 million, according to Invest Game.
Ethereum and Solana are now being compared to each other, but they both possess the same smart contract capabilities. Though Solana is faster and more efficient compared to Ethereum. Experts see more potential in Solana as it has good potential to work in the long run. However, it’s still early to predict or comment on whether Solana will dethrone Ethereum and take its place.
