What is Solana (SOL)?
Solana is a high-throughput blockchain founded by Anatoly Yakovenko, whose mainnet beta launched in March 2020. SOL is its native token, used to pay fees and to secure the network through staking.
- Type
- Layer-1 blockchain
- Launched
- 2020
- Consensus
- Proof of Stake with Proof of History
- Max supply
- No fixed cap
- Swap network
- Solana
- Sector (Messari)
- Smart Contract Platform
How Solana works
Solana combines Proof of Stake with Proof of History, a cryptographic clock that timestamps events so validators can agree on ordering without constant back-and-forth messaging. Leaders rotate on a fixed schedule to produce blocks, which keeps block times short and fees low.
What SOL is used for
SOL covers transaction fees and rent for on-chain accounts, and it is delegated to validators by holders seeking staking rewards. The chain is popular for trading on decentralized exchanges, payments with stablecoins, NFTs and consumer apps that need cheap, fast transactions.
SOL supply
SOL has no hard cap. The protocol issues new tokens under an inflation schedule that started at 8% per year and steps down annually toward a long-term floor of 1.5%, while part of each transaction fee is burned.
Before you swap SOL
Solana wallet addresses are base58 strings, which differ from Ethereum-style 0x addresses, so paste the destination carefully. Leave some SOL in the receiving wallet to pay fees and account rent when you later move tokens.