The Solana crypto soared again in Tuesday’s deals to hit yet another new high as the novel blockchain continues to benefit from Ethereum’s scaling issues.
At around US$182 the SOL coin is up 25.6% for the day – and is up 380% from US$38.5 in the past month, and many multiples from the meagre 2.5 cents per coin price of a year ago.
It now ranks as the seventh most valuable crypto with a market cap marked on Tuesday at US$51.5bn, albeit it has caught up quickly with the likes of Cardano (#3, worth US$84bn) and Polkadot (#9, worth US$33.2bn) which are also seen among a group of so-called ‘Eth-killer’ altcoins which aim to be more scalable and cheaper to use.
Ethereum, the world’s second biggest crypto by value, is under pressure to deliver upgraded tech to its blockchain system to handle burgeoning demand. Transaction volumes in Ethereum Layer 2 (a group of solutions that run over the top of the underlying Ethereum blockchain, to assist scaling) are, according to reports, presently exceeding trades in Bitcoin.
Solana holders are evidently among the big winners as a result of the burgeoning use of Ethereum
As an alternative, Solana uses a ‘proof-of-history’ methodology in the creation of new units which aims to allow lower-cost scalability, and, at the same time includes ‘smart contract’ functionality – which is central to the Ethereum use-case.
It has meant that Solana has been positioned as an alternative to Ethereum for some uses – for example by NFT and decentralised-finance platforms.