I do not do many exclusive updates unless there is big news or price action.
When things are flat and stagnant, there is not much to talk about.
Boy, we have a lot to talk about today!
The fastest chain is about to get a lot faster!
We will discover why Solana is getting faster and cheaper and why adding more block space is important.
I have always believed in monolithic chains and tend to think of Occam's razor and simplicity regarding blockchains. When things are complex and hard for me to understand, I do not like them because complexity is stupid.
Einstein once said, "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough."
Solana now processes more transactions than all other chains combined!
As of yesterday, it processed a monstrous 37,276,832 transactions in a single day. For perspective, the average number of transactions per chain per day is 700,000.
The daily active addresses across the chains chart show that Solana's dominance (green) is creeping up. It is now north of 50%.
The Solana monthly active users have hit an all-time high and are now 30 million worldwide. Each user performs an average of 16 daily transactions, setting new records for the Solana blockchain, crypto, and adoption benchmarks.
This universal state machine is what the world will need to run on.
Bitcoin will never be quick enough to meet the demands of the world. A dApp with 100 million daily active users is what will get us to a billion people on crypto. Solana's monthly active users can triple from here with the need for payments, DeFi, gaming, trading, and NFTs.
There is so much coming and what has happened this week is mind-blowing, but we will break it down.
What is compression and all this ZK stuff? This explanation is from Austin Federa, the head of strategy at Solana.
Bottom line: if your business has half a billion customers, you can now secure them on-chain for $25,000. There is no other chain that can get remotely close to multiple-step factors.
I realize some ETH maxis do not like Solana using the term ZK because it was anointed by the Ethereum network folks - it means ‘zero knowledge’.
Why would you do this?
Cost.
If you want to check these addresses for yourself, you can go to testnet.helios.dev and check them all out—the network address, RPC, Photon RPC API, and Prover—to ensure it works.
Block space is expensive!
Solana introduced ZK compression on its Layer 1 blockchain, eliminating the need for Layer 2s. Again, going back to Occam's Razor, I called Layer 2s a band-aid on Ethereum's Layer 1 problem. There are too many, too complex, too slow, and no finality. L2s on Ethereum do not solve the core issue.
The L1 blockchain now has Z compression directly on it, eliminating the need for Layer 2 solutions. This innovation has a significant impact on Solana's scalability. It now provides a 10,000x improvement in on-chain state compression.
The new technology lasts for more on-chain block space at reduced costs and at light speed, enabling the Solana network to theoretically handle trillions in daily transaction volume. This is expected to unlock new potential use cases for developers who no longer need to worry and stay awake at night about the size of their program-derived accounts. The roadmap also includes the FireDancer project, further boosting the network's capabilities.
This development is a huge step forward for Solana and the crypto industry, making transactions fast and extremely cheap.
More details regarding the PDA accounts and the cost are below.
It is the whole kit and caboodle, whatever that means—the enchilada. The network can now do anything any developer can dream up for a one-state machine with no layer 2s operating at the speed of light.
Pantera is the top Venture Capital firm in the crypto space that recently released a report on Solana. The report's TLDR is that Solana's monolithic design and relentless focus on optimization and the speed of light offer huge advantages in terms of user experience, developer agility, and security.
Again, follow the developers and the money while looking for the best, cheapest, fastest, and most secure solution. Developers are flocking to build groundbreaking applications, and value capture is accelerating. We see that with MEV, fees, and total economic value surpassing all other chains. As its ecosystem continues to evolve and mature, Solana's architectural advantages and vibrant community point toward a very bright future.
As the blockchain industry matures, these strengths position Solana to thrive and gain market share from competing ecosystems. The black hole thing is happening way faster than I ever expected.
The road ahead is not without challenges, but the fundamentals of Solana are firing on all cylinders.
Retail adoption is going through the roof.
Fifteen years ago, I remember walking through Facebook headquarters, and everything was the same: We are a mobile company. Everywhere you looked, mobile, mobile, mobile, hammering the messaging home. Michael Saylor - 20 years ago - spoke to the mobile revolution and you had to be part of it.
Now, Toly is doing the same thing, and he is from Qualcomm - a mobile chip company.
The future is
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