Beginner Guide
What is Solana (SOL)?
Solana is one of the fastest and most affordable blockchains in the world. Here's everything you need to know — from how it works to what you can do with it.
The short answer
Solana (SOL) is a Layer 1 blockchain — a base-layer network, like Bitcoin or Ethereum, but built for speed. It was founded by Anatoly Yakovenko in 2017 and officially launched in March 2020.
The goal: build a blockchain fast enough to replace traditional financial infrastructure, without sacrificing decentralization or security.
How fast is Solana?
Solana can theoretically process up to 65,000 transactions per second (TPS). In practice, the network regularly handles thousands of TPS — far ahead of Ethereum (~15–30 TPS) and Bitcoin (~7 TPS).
More importantly, Solana transactions cost less than $0.001. Sending SOL, trading on a DEX, or minting an NFT costs a fraction of a cent — making use cases viable that would be prohibitively expensive on Ethereum.
What is Proof of History (PoH)?
Solana's breakthrough innovation is Proof of History (PoH) — a cryptographic clock built into the blockchain itself. Traditional blockchains waste time getting validators to agree on when events happened. PoH solves this by encoding time directly into the transaction record.
Think of it as a continuous timestamp: each transaction is hashed with the output of the previous one, creating a verifiable, tamper-proof sequence of events. Validators can process transactions in parallel because they don't need to communicate about ordering — the order is already proven.
What is SOL used for?
- ⚡Transaction fees: Every transaction on Solana requires a tiny SOL fee to prevent spam and reward validators.
- 📈Staking: Lock up SOL to help secure the network and earn ~6–8% APY. You can stake directly on Binance.
- 🔄DeFi: SOL is the native currency for Solana's DeFi ecosystem — DEXs, lending protocols, and yield farming.
- 🖼️NFTs: Solana is the second-largest NFT ecosystem after Ethereum, with millions of NFTs minted due to low fees.
- 🎮Gaming & payments: Fast, cheap transactions make Solana ideal for in-game currencies and crypto payments.
Who created Solana?
Solana was created by Anatoly Yakovenko, a former Qualcomm engineer, who published the Proof of History whitepaper in 2017. He co-founded Solana Labs with Greg Fitzgerald and others. The Solana Foundation, a non-profit in Geneva, supports the network's development.
Has Solana had outages?
Yes — Solana has experienced several network outages since launch, most notably in 2021–2022. These were caused by spam transactions overwhelming validators during high-demand periods. The Solana team has since implemented multiple protocol upgrades (QUIC, fee markets, local fee markets) that have significantly improved network stability.
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How to Buy SOL →Frequently Asked Questions
What is Solana (SOL)?+
Solana is a high-performance Layer 1 blockchain that processes up to 65,000 transactions per second with fees under $0.001. It was founded by Anatoly Yakovenko in 2017 and launched in 2020. SOL is the native token used to pay for transactions and participate in staking.
What makes Solana so fast?+
Solana's speed comes from Proof of History (PoH) — a cryptographic clock that timestamps transactions before they are processed. This eliminates the need for validators to communicate about time, allowing the network to process transactions in parallel at extremely high throughput.
What is Proof of History?+
Proof of History (PoH) is a mechanism invented by Solana founder Anatoly Yakovenko. It creates a historical record proving that events occurred at specific moments in time. By encoding time into the blockchain itself, validators can process transactions in the correct order without waiting for network-wide consensus on timing.
What can you do with Solana (SOL)?+
You can use SOL to pay transaction fees, stake to earn rewards (6–8% APY), trade on decentralized exchanges (DEXs), buy and sell NFTs, access DeFi protocols, and play blockchain games. SOL is also traded on all major exchanges including Binance and Pionex.
Is Solana a good investment?+
This is not financial advice. Solana has a strong technical foundation and active ecosystem. As with all cryptocurrencies, it carries significant price volatility and risk. Always do your own research and only invest what you can afford to lose.
How is Solana different from Ethereum?+
Solana processes ~65,000 TPS vs Ethereum's ~15–30 TPS. Solana fees are under $0.001 vs Ethereum's $1–$50. However, Ethereum has a larger developer ecosystem and longer security track record. See our full Solana vs Ethereum comparison.