SOL vs ETH compare

What is Solana?

The Solana crypto project began its journey in 2017, and its official launch took place in March 2020 by the Solana Foundation, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

Solana is a high-performance blockchain known for its lightning-fast and yet cheap transactions. But Solana's blockchain isn't just about the convenience and speed of sending and receiving its native SOL coins. Its highly scalable ecosystem has become a fertile environment for developing and launching numerous projects embracing non-fungible tokens, decentralized finance and other cutting-edge apps for Web3. In addition, such aggregators as AMM, Lending, Yield Farming are built on the Solana blockchain, which enable staking and lending crypto assets in order to generate high returns or rewards.

Solana Benefits

Solano is usually associated with 3 main benefits that are often cited as an answer to the question "why is Solana better than Ethereum?"

• Scalability

Solana's first and foremost advantage over its main competitors is scalability, which in turn allows the blockchain to process transactions in an incredibly fast way.

• Cost-effective

Solana does not require huge resources, which means that the fees for transactions in its network are much lower. On average, Solana's transaction fees are less than a cent.

• Eco-friendly

Since Solana requires less energy, it is a more environmentally friendly alternative. The carbon intensity of the Solana Network is 198 g CO2 per kWh.

What is Ethereum?

Ethereum is the second largest player in the crypto market, coming after Bitcoin to introduce more advanced features of blockchain technology. The first version of the project was presented in the summer of 2015. Ethereum is not just a platform for secure transactions with the native ETH currency, but the first programmable blockchain for developing and launching decentralized apps. Applications built on the basis of Ethereum work strictly in accordance with the written smart contracts, without failures, censorship, fraud and third-party involvement.

Ethereum is often criticized for its scalability issues, causing transactions to take longer to process. However, the blockchain is currently undergoing a series of upgrades that should be fully implemented by 2024. According to the developers, this will make Ethereum more scalable, more secure, and more sustainable.

Ethereum Benefits

• High level of adoption

At the moment, there are 622.939k active ETH wallets, and the cryptocurrency is available on almost all exchanges. Even with obvious issues such as network congestion, scalability, and high transaction fees, Ethereum continues to dominate the DeFi sector.

• Reliability

In terms of liquidity and reliability of investments, Ethereum remains the leader, and the update of The Merge protocol should increase the level of security even more.

• Reputation

Ethereum is one of the oldest blockchains. Since 2017, the company has consistently ranked second in terms of market capitalization.

Differences Between SOL and ETH

Anyone who wonders "is Solana better than Ethereum?" will find an answer to it by comparing their basic properties.

Purposes

Solana and Ethereum were created with different purposes, and this is reflected in their distinctive features and scope. 

When there were only a few cryptocurrencies, developers wanted to expand the functionality of the blockchain in order to develop decentralized applications on it. With this goal in mind, Ethereum was created, which continues to dominate the DeFi sector.

With the Solana project, the developers wanted to correct the low scalability and slow transaction processing speed that was inherent in crypto projects such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. Therefore, Solana, capable of processing an infinite number of transactions per second for a small fee, is known for its high performance and affordability.

Programming language

Both Ethereum and Solana blockchains are suitable for writing smart contracts that developers use when creating programs. However, the projects use different programming languages and virtual machines.

To write smart contracts, Solana uses well-known languages such as C, C++ and Rust. Since all developers are probably familiar with them, there is less chance of making mistakes when writing code.

Ethereum, on the other hand, uses a custom-built Ethereum virtual machine (EVM) and programming languages such as Solidity, Viper (Python language), Fe, Yul/Yul+

PoW vs. PoH

Consent mechanisms define the rules for the operation of the network and ensure its security. The type of consensus determines the speed and the way transactions are processed on a blockchain.

Solana uses the Proof of History (PoH) mechanism, which can handle heavy network load and ensures fast transaction processing.

Ethereum uses Proof of Work (PoW), which, although it provides a good level of security, cannot keep up with the load on the network, processing transactions slowly. Therefore, as part of its large-scale upgrade The Merge, the Ethereum blockchain will switch to another Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus.

Decentralization

Decentralization is the backbone of blockchain technology. The idea is that no individual or group of individuals should have much influence or control over the system. Due to differences in technology and mechanisms, some cryptocurrencies are less decentralized than others. 

Solana uses a PoS mechanism, in which holders of a large number of SOL coins receive even more rewards, which can also contribute to the establishment of centralized power.

The PoW consensus mechanism used in the Ethereum blockchain led to the creation of mining pools, where a few groups had more power over the blockchain than the rest and could control it.

However, due to the fact that Solana's validators own more than a third of the total stake, and therefore control a huge part of the network, it loses to Ethereum in terms of decentralization.

Transaction cost and speed

Solana is one of the fastest and most affordable blockchains. It is capable of processing up to 60,000 TPS, and one transaction costs only 0.00017651 SOL ($0.00017651).

The average cost of a transaction on the ETH network is 0.002 ETH ($3.31). So far, the blockchain can handle up to 30 TPS, but the developers promise a fantastic speed of 100,000 TPS that Ethereum will be able to develop after the upcoming update.

The 24-hour trading volume of Solana is 315959764.222435830000. 

The circulating supply is 0 SOL coins and the maximum supply is 0 SOL coins.

The 24-hour percentage change of SOL is 0.

The 7-day percentage change of SOL is [Percent_change_7d_1].

The 24-hour trading volume of Etherium is  547054170.328681600000. The circulating supply is 0 ETH coins and the maximum supply is 0 Ethereum coins.

The 24-hour percentage change of Etherium is 0.

The 7-day percentage change of Etherium is [Percent_change_7d_2].

To compare these and other crypto indicators, use the real-time Solana and Ethereum price chart and Solana vs Ethereum calculator.

Security and Past Breaches

No cryptocurrency is 100% secure.

Proof of Work, which is still running the Ethereum blockchain, has a better defense mechanism against intruders than Proof of History used by Solana. But, nevertheless, this did not save the network from a hack during which more than 173,000 ETH was stolen.

Solana's network went down several times and its bridge to the Ethereum network was hacked, resulting in the theft of $320 million worth of funds.

In total, the losses of Ethereum and Solana from hacker attacks amounted to more than $1 billion.

DeFi ecosystem

Ethereum preceded Solana and pioneered the DeFi sector. It has a more advanced ecosystem with a  wide range of services for decentralized product development.

The most famous DApps developed on the Ether blockchain are: Uniswap, MakerDAO, Lido, as well as popular NFT trading platforms.

Solana is still developing in the decentralized finance niche, but has already hosted the development of applications such as Solend and Raydium.

Market cap

Currently, Ethereum has a market cap of $198,842,990,268, making it the second largest coin after Bitcoin.

Solana is inferior to its competitor with a capitalization of $16,873,585,480, but still, it is in the top 10 cryptocurrencies.

Solana vs. Ethereum: Which is a Better Investment?

When it comes to investing, everyone should make their own decision based on their own research and the desired outcomes.

Both Ethereum and Solana are assets with excellent investment opportunities. Ethereum has a ROI of 57283.45% while Solana's approximate return on investment since its inception is 14891.32%.

Solana vs Ethereum: Which Is a Better Buy?

The choice of coin depends on how you intend to use it. For regular low-cost transactions - Solana will be the best option. As a large investment, Ethereum is better suited. Compare Solana with Ethereum to make the right choice.

SOL vs ETH: bottom line

In the cryptocurrency SOL vs ETH competition, another coin can come out winning every time. Solana vs Ethereum difference has shown that both coins have their advantages and disadvantages. They are both serious crypto assets that merit attention.