Solana Blockchain Platform

Solana
Denominations
Code	SOL
Development
Original author(s)	Anatoly Yakovenko Raj Gokal
White paper	Solana: A new architecture for a high performance blockchain
Code repository	github.com/solana-labs/solana
Development status	Active
Developer(s)	Solana Labs Solana Foundation
License	Apache License 2.0[1]
Ledger
Block explorer	explorer.solana.com
Website	solana.com

Solana is a decentralized, open-source blockchain platform utilizing proof-of-stake and proof-of-history consensus mechanisms, designed for high-throughput, low-latency transactions, enabling scalable decentralized applications and fast, secure digital asset transfers. Many blockchains face the trilemma of decentralization, security, and scalability. Solana uses both consensus mechanisms to deliver fast, secure transactions while maintaining network decentralization.

The network leverages high-performance networking and optimized systems engineering to support large-scale applications, including gaming, Web3 social networks, and real-time financial services, emphasizing speed and low transaction costs. The genesis of Solana is attributed to Anatoly Yakovenko, a software engineer specializing in compression algorithms and distributed systems, who began the project in late 2017 and published its White Paper.

In 2017, Anatoly Yakovenko, along with Greg Fitzgerald, Raj Gokal, and Eric Williams, co-founded Solana Labs to implement the project. The company was initially named Loom but was quickly renamed to avoid confusion with another blockchain platform.

The team released the Solana testnet in February 2018 and began fundraising in 2019. Tens of millions of dollars were raised, leading to the official launch of Solana and its SOL cryptocurrency in March 2020 by their San Francisco-based company, Solana Labs, attracting investors interested in a competitor to Ethereum, particularly during the rise of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in 2021.

The platform’s architecture is designed to deliver faster transaction speeds and lower costs compared with other major blockchains. However, periods of high transaction volume have resulted in notable network outages, affecting overall stability and reliability. The history of Solana has been marked by rapid development and adoption. Founded in 2017 by Anatoly Yakovenko and a team of former Qualcomm engineers, Solana launched its mainnet in March 2020, using Proof-of-History and Proof-of-Stake to achieve high-speed, low-cost transactions. By 2021, the network was processing over 50,000 transactions per second, attracting dApps, DeFi projects, and NFT marketplaces.

By 2024, Solana reached a market capitalization of $92.5 billion, with daily transaction volumes exceeding $3.79 billion. Innovations such as “Solana Actions” and blockchain links facilitated online transactions and participatory financing, while strategic collaborations, including partnerships with companies like Coca-Cola HBC, expanded its ecosystem, positioning Solana as a leading blockchain platform.

Characteristics

According to its white paper, Solana operates using a proof-of-stake consensus model. The New York Times and Financial Times have described Solana as an alternative to Ethereum.

History

Solana launched in March 2020 as the first blockchain using a Proof-of-History consensus mechanism, based on Anatoly Yakovenko’s 2017 whitepaper, differing from Bitcoin and Ethereum Proof-of-Work. Its first block was created on 16 March 2020.

The Solana blockchain was designed to facilitate smart contracts and support the development of decentralized applications (dApps). Frequent high-volume transactions caused multiple outages on the Solana blockchain, resulting in over $50 billion in losses since early 2022, amid network overloads and significant exposure to Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX exchange. In June 2021, Solana Labs raised $314 million in a private token sale led by Andreessen Horowitz and Polychain Capital, supporting the development of its DeFi ecosystem, trading infrastructure, and blockchain expansion, with participation from Alameda Research and other investors.

Solana experienced significant growth between 2021 and 2025. In 2021, its market capitalization rose from $63 billion in September to $74 billion in November, representing a nearly 12,000% increase, partly driven by growing interest in NFTs. By 2025, Solana had become the top revenue-generating blockchain, earning $1.3 billion and surpassing Ethereum, supported by high transaction throughput, low fees, DeFi activity, memecoin trading, 39.8 million active addresses, and $17.3 billion in total value locked.

On July 1, 2022, Schneider Wallace Cottrell Kim filed a class action lawsuit against Solana Labs, the Solana Foundation, Anatoly Yakovenko, Multicoin Capital, Kyle Samani, and FalconX, alleging violations of Sections 5, 12(a)(1), and 15 of the 1933 Securities Act and California Corporations Code Sections 25110 and 2550. Plaintiff Mark Young claimed that unregistered Solana securities were promoted and sold, causing investor losses.

The case, Mark Young v. Solana Labs, Inc., et al. (No. 22-cv-03912), is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Potential class members could move to serve as Lead Plaintiff under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, while remaining eligible for any future recovery without active participation.

On 2–3 August 2022, nearly $5.8 million (£4.9 million) was stolen from approximately 8,000 wallets linked to the Solana crypto network. The Solana Foundation reported that a “malicious actor” drained funds, including SOL tokens, NFTs, and over 300 Solana-based tokens. Investigations suggested the exploit originated from vulnerabilities in certain wallet The exploit was traced to vulnerabilities in certain software rather than the Solana blockchain itself. Engineers and security researchers collaborated to identify the root cause and mitigate further losses.

In November 2022, Solana’s price dropped by 40% in a single day following the bankruptcy of FTX, as Alameda Research, a major holder, liquidated its SOL holdings. Such events significantly impacted investor confidence and market dynamics. At the time, SOL tokens represented Alameda Research’s second-largest asset holding, with FTX reportedly holding approximately $982 million worth of SOL tokens.

By the end of 2022, Solana experienced a $50 billion value loss due to network outages, FTX exposure, and developer attrition. Despite its speed-focused design and DeFi relevance, investor confidence remained weak.

From January to March 15, 2023, Solana’s value increased by 100%, raising its market capitalization to approximately $7 billion during a crypto market rally. On June 11, 2023, it dropped nearly 30% following the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s lawsuit alleging that SOL was a security, leading major exchanges, including Robinhood, to delist the token.

In June 2023, Solana was named by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in a lawsuit against Coinbase, with the SEC alleging that Solana qualified as a crypto asset security, prompting regulatory scrutiny and exchange delistings.

However, the Solana Foundation denied the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s claims that SOL, Solana’s native token, was an unregistered security. The Foundation emphasized its belief that SOL is not a security and highlighted its commitment to engaging with regulators to achieve legal clarity for digital asset development. Amira Valliani, the Foundation’s head of policy, reaffirmed this position at a Solana developer event. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had named SOL and 12 other tokens in lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase, triggering significant price declines, including an approximate 12% drop in SOL’s value.

Following the SEC’s announcement, the price of SOL declined by nearly 30%, prompting several cryptocurrency exchanges to liquidate their holdings. Robinhood subsequently delisted SOL along with other tokens identified by the SEC in its lawsuits.

On April 19, 2023, Robinhood Crypto expanded its U.S. platform by adding Solana (SOL), Pepe (PEPE), Cardano (ADA), and XRP (XRP), increasing the number of tradable cryptocurrencies to 19 and emphasizing accessibility, security, and compliance with internal listing policies.

In 2025, Solana experienced significant price volatility, with SOL peaking at $294 in January before falling 58% by year-end amid Bitcoin’s broader market decline. Despite this, the network maintained strong decentralized finance (DeFi) activity, with total value locked around $8.8 billion and decentralized exchange (DEX) volumes reaching $1.5 trillion.

Institutional adoption increased, supported by the approval of spot Solana ETFs and corporate staking of over 12.5 million SOL, representing more than 3% of the circulating supply. Stablecoin projects by traditional finance firms further bolstered liquidity, demonstrating Solana’s resilience amid market turbulence and its growing integration with institutional finance.

Outages

The Solana blockchain has experienced several notable outages in service.

On 6 February 2024, Solana experienced a major outage lasting 4 hours and 46 minutes. The network halted block production due to an undetermined technical malfunction, speculated to involve a bug in the mechanism responsible for deploying, upgrading, and executing programs across the blockchain.

On 25 February 2023, a major outage occurred for 18 hours and 50 minutes when a malfunctioning validator broadcast an excessively large block. This flooded the network’s primary block-propagation protocol, Turbine, significantly reducing network performance and halting normal mainnet operations temporarily.

On 30 September – 1 October 2022, a major outage lasted 7 hours and 18 minutes. A validator “hot-spare node” malfunction produced duplicate blocks, while a bug in fork selection logic prevented block producers from building on previous blocks, causing consensus failure.

On 1 June 2022, two major outages totaling 4 hours and 10 minutes occurred due to consensus failure. A faulty “durable transaction nonce” mechanism caused nodes to diverge, while the blockchain clock drifted 30 minutes behind real time, halting block production.

On 30 April – 1 May 2022, a major outage lasted 13 hours and 44 minutes. NFT minting bots overwhelmed the network with approximately four million transactions per second, causing congestion and knocking the blockchain out of consensus until validators restored operations.

On 21 – 22 January 2022, a partial outage of 29 hours and 22 minutes occurred due to excessive duplicate transactions generated by bots. The resulting network congestion temporarily degraded mainnet performance, though it was resolved without long-term disruption.

On 6 – 12 January 2022, a partial outage lasting 58 hours and 23 minutes occurred as high-compute transactions drastically reduced network throughput. Performance dropped to several thousand transactions per second, far below Solana’s stated capacity.

On 14 – 15 September 2021, a major outage lasted 17 hours and 21 minutes. Memory overflow from Grape Protocol IDO bots on Raydium overwhelmed nodes, halting block production when the network could no longer reach consensus.

On 2 September 2021, a partial outage of 35 minutes occurred for unknown reasons. Block production was temporarily disrupted, but the network resumed normal operations without significant long-term impact.

Solana and Trump

On March 2, 2025, President Donald Trump announced the creation of a strategic crypto reserve for the United States, including bitcoin, ether, XRP, Solana’s SOL token, and Cardano’s ADA, via a post on Truth Social.

The announcement prompted significant market reactions, with XRP rising 33%, SOL increasing 25%, Cardano gaining over 60%, and bitcoin and ether rising 10% and 13% respectively.

On November 25, 2025, Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, released a staff report alleging that President Donald Trump and his family used the presidency to enrich themselves through cryptocurrency ventures. The report claimed crypto holdings reached $11.6 billion, with $800 million earned from sales in the first half of 2025.

The report, titled “Trump, Crypto, and a New Age of Corruption,” alleged that foreign actors and corporate interests funneled money into Trump family crypto ventures, receiving regulatory rollbacks, pardons, and policy favors in return. It also documented the dismantling of federal oversight, pardons for crypto fraudsters, and systemic weakening of anti-corruption safeguards. Grape Protocol (Social Networking, 2021): Launched in 2021 on Solana, Grape Protocol is a decentralized social network emphasizing privacy, user data ownership, governance participation, and community monetization, enabling movement away from centralized platforms. Star Atlas (Gaming, 2021): Launched in 2021, Star Atlas is a blockchain-based MMO and metaverse on Solana where players explore, trade, and develop NFT-based assets, creating a player-driven economy leveraging Solana’s high-speed transactions.

Chain Link on Solana (Oracle Services, 2021): Integrated in 2021, Chain Link on Solana connects smart contracts to secure real-world data feeds, supporting applications in DeFi, gaming, and insurance via decentralized oracle networks.

Serum (DeFi, 2020): Launched in 2020 on Solana, Serum is a high-speed, low-cost decentralized exchange using a central limit order book, delivering fast, affordable trading with deep liquidity and addressing high fees and slow transaction times.

Audius (Music Industry, 2019): Launched in 2019, Audius is a decentralized music streaming platform on Solana that allows artists to retain ownership, earn transparent royalties via smart contracts, and connect directly with fans, bypassing traditional intermediaries.