Blockchain 101: Solana
A lightning-fast blockchain built for apps, memes, payments, and scale — here's how Solana works, why it's so fast, and where it's headed next.
A lightning-fast blockchain built for apps, memes, payments, and scale — here's how Solana works, why it's so fast, and where it's headed next.
SMooTH
Posted on Jul 23, 2025
Share
Imagine Ethereum guzzled a Red Bull, got an engineering degree from MIT, and decided gas fees are cringe.
That’s Solana.
It’s a blockchain that trades chill for fast, complexity for throughput, and uptime for.. memes?
If you’ve heard of DogWifHat or seen Trump launch his own coin — yup, that was Solana.
In this breakdown, we’ll explore:
- How Solana actually works
- The full saga from whitepaper to meme-mania
- How it stacks up against Ethereum and Bitcoin
- What you can actually do on it today
And whether Solana’s wild ride is just getting started — or about to hit a wall.
Let’s break it all down, completely jargon-free 👇
1️⃣ What is Solana and How Does It Work?
Solana is a Layer 1 blockchain that’s fast AF, cheap, and surprisingly functional.
Built in 2020 by Anatoly Yakovenko and team, it uses a combo of Proof-of-Stake and a spicy innovation called Proof of History.
⏱️ Timekeepers – Proof of History (PoH)
Meet the timekeepers. This is what powers Solana, and it's unlike anything in Bitcoin or Ethereum.
Proof of History isn’t about solving puzzles (Proof of Work) or staking coins (Proof of Stake). It’s about proving that time has passed — cryptographically.
Here’s how it works:
- Imagine every validator has a super-accurate stopwatch.
- That stopwatch is constantly ticking by generating a long chain of hashes (like: hash → hash → hash → hash…).
- Each hash includes the previous one, so you can’t skip ahead or fake the order.
- This creates a verifiable timeline — proof that Event A happened before Event B, without needing everyone to agree on the timestamp in real time.
With this built-in clock, validators already know the order of transactions before they even start voting.
That means way less back-and-forth, way faster block finality. Instead of debating "what happened when," Solana validators say:
"Here’s the cryptographic receipt that proves it happened. Let’s move on."
This is what makes Solana so blazingly fast: it cuts out the need for constant timestamp syncing, which slows down other chains.
However, you still need validators (via PoS) to confirm blocks — but PoH sets the tempo so they don’t waste time arguing about order.
The result?
- ~400ms block times
- 65,000+ theoretical TPS (transactions per second)
- Fees under $0.01
- Works on mobile
Solana is optimized for speed and scalability from the jump. It doesn’t have to rely on rollups or Layer 2s for scaling.
2️⃣ The Solana Saga (2020–2025)
Solana’s been around for a while. Let’s do a quick time-travel through the Solana multiverse:
🧪 2020 – Genesis
Mainnet launches. The world shrugs. Anatoly drops PoH. Devs nod. Crypto Twitter goes “huh?”
🚀 2021 – The L1 Wars
Ethereum gas hits $200. Solana offers $0.01 txs and actually runs games and NFTs. SOL moons to $260. Magic Eden, Degenerate Apes, Raydium explode. VC money rains from the sky.
🥴 2022 – The Great Faceplant
Outages. Spam. Bots. 17-hour halt. Then FTX collapses — turns out they were Solana’s sugar daddy. SOL dumps to $8. Twitter declares Solana dead.
📱 2023 – Resurrection Arc
BONK launches and airdrops to devs. Solana Mobile ships the Saga. Solana starts working again. Devs double down. Helium migrates. Visa taps in. SOL > $30. Magic.
🤯 2024–2025 – Meme Season
pump.fun launches. Memecoins like $WIF, $FART, and even $TRUMP rip to billions in market cap. Solana flips ETH in daily revenue. SOL hits $294 ATH. Firedancer client teased. Sequel phone coming.
Solana is BACK.
3️⃣ Solana vs Ethereum & Bitcoin
Let’s compare Solana to the OGs:
Feature | Solana | Ethereum | Bitcoin |
Speed (TPS) | Really fast (hundreds–thousands) | Medium (15–30 per sec) | Slow (5–7 per sec) |
Wait Time | Super quick (~0.4 seconds) | Kinda slow (~12 seconds) | 🐌 Very slow (~10 minutes) |
Fees | Basically nothing (<$0.01) | Can get pricey ($1–$30+) | Also pricey ($1–$20+) |
Can run apps? | Yes (uses Rust/C++) | Yes (uses Solidity) | Nope, just sends money |
What’s it good for? | Fast apps, memes, mobile stuff | DeFi (finance stuff), secure apps | Saving money like gold |
How decentralized? | Somewhat | Very | Extremely |
Vibe | Zoomers + memes | Nerdy finance devs | Bitcoin boomers & gold bugs |
Solana’s edge? Speed.
It’s the only L1 where you can mint a memecoin, play a game, swap USDC, and post a tweet on-chain — without worrying about gas fees or clicking 12 transaction popups.
But it’s not as decentralized as ETH or BTC. And it’s not trying to be.
Solana’s goal is to feel like Web2, but on-chain. Smooth UX, fast finality, and mobile-native everything.
4️⃣ What Can You Actually Do on Solana?
Quite a bit!
🪙 DeFi:
Trade, lend, stake — all without banks, and without gas fees anxiety.
Example: Raydium
A slick Solana DEX where swaps settle faster than you blink.
🎨 NFTs & Collectibles:
Mint and trade NFTs for pennies, not gas wars.
Example: Magic Eden
The go-to Solana NFT marketplace — quick, cheap, and creator-friendly.
🕹️ GameFi:
On-chain games with real-time actions and real rewards.
Example: Star Atlas
An expansive space exploration RPG featuring NFT ships and interstellar economies.
🐸 Meme & Shitcoins:
Make (or lose) a fortune in Solana’s wild meme economy.
Example: pump.fun
A leading token-launch platform that birthed over 9 million coins and fueled the memecoin cycle of 2024.
📱 Mobile dApps & Phones:
Crypto-native phones and mobile-first Solana apps.
Example: Solana Saga
An Android phone with a seed vault, dApp store, and yes — free $BONK.
🛍 Real-World Use:
Spend stablecoins like cash. No banks, no friction.
Example: Solana Pay
A seamless payment solution enabling fast, low-cost USDC transactions for merchants and consumers.
Intrigued yet?
5️⃣ Tradeoffs, Crashes, and Criticisms
Of course, no blockchain comes without its limitations.
Solana has baggage:
💀 Network Outages
It’s gone down multiple times. Spam attacks, bugs, one bad validator update — and poof. Devs reboot it like an old Windows XP.
👥 Validator Centralization
Running a Solana node = need a beefy machine. Most are in data centers. Critics say it's too top-heavy. Solana says “we’re working on it.”
🔐 Security Complexity
Solana built its own tech to go fast and powerful — but not simple. More moving parts = more chances to break.
💩 Too Much Meme, Not Enough Meat?
With 70%+ of activity sometimes being spam or meme-related, some wonder if Solana is really the next finance layer, or just the next casino.
Still — every time Solana got knocked down, it bounced back harder. Just like that one memecoin you sold too early.
6️⃣ Conclusion: The Future of Solana
Solana’s not just fast — it’s different.
It rewrote the rulebook with Proof of History, weathered outages and FTX drama, and somehow memed its way back to the top.
It’s not the most decentralized. It’s not the most secure. But it might just be the most usable chain out there.
From DeFi and NFTs to mobile apps and meme tokens, Solana is building an ecosystem where speed, scale, and smooth UX come first.
And with upgrades like Firedancer, crypto-native phones, and real-world adoption picking up, Solana’s next chapter could be its biggest yet.
The tech is evolving. The culture is thriving.
And the chain? Still running — faster than ever.
So far, in our Blockchain 101 Series:
Author
SMooTH
@thisissmooth
📢 Teaching communication skills 🔎 Research @tryPluid 🦉 Ambassador @dyli_io 👍 Confident Cobra 🐍
Recommended by Pluid
Tutorials
Berachain's "Bectra" Upgrade Explained
A simple yet informative breakdown of Berachain's latest upgrade - "Bectra".
by darwizzynft
Tutorials
Jun 17, 2025
Tutorials
Blockchain 101: Real-World Assets (RWAs)
Learn how blockchain transforms RWAs into liquid, programmable assets anyone can trade — and why it’s changing investing forever.
by SMooTH
Tutorials
Jun 30, 2025
Tutorials
Proof-of-Liquidity Explained
A simple yet detailed explanation of Proof-of-Liquidity.
by darwizzynft
Tutorials
Jun 24, 2025
Tutorials
Blockchain 101: What are Layer 2s?
Arbitrum, Optimism, zkSync, and more — discover how Layer 2s scale Ethereum without breaking it, slashing gas fees and unlocking the next billion users.
by SMooTH
Tutorials
Jun 7, 2025
