Serious Ethereum contender Solana is packing up resources in its fight against the second-most traded cryptocurrency. Basically, it wans to become the top choice blockchain for decentralized applications.
According to a Decrypt report, Solana bigwigs are raising about $450 million for its fierce head-on with Ethereum. Multiple sources told Decrypt that Solana is accumulating around $300 million to $400 million. It had sought a smaller amount of funding in March, but surging demand coinciding with Bitcoin's record-high price of $64,671 made them expand their fundraising goals.
While Solana executives refused to comment, they did not deny Decrypt's fund raising reports either.
Solana Funding Not Confirmed Nor Denied
In a statement to Forbes, a Solana spokesperson said the information (Decrypt reported) "wasn't shared by our team." The spokesperson also said Solana had asked Decrypt to "redact but they refused," and added they "won't be able to assist with additional commentary" since the reports were not officially confirmed by Solana.
The funding will be used to advance their blockchain and capture market share, the Decrypt report said. The money is also expected to be used to entice developers to build their apps on Solana, instead of other blockchains--just like what it did in allotting $20 million to mount projects in the network in an alliance with MATH Global, and $60 million to shoulder projects in Ukraine, India, Brazil, and Russia, Forbes noted in its report.
Solana has also entered a $20 million partnership with ROK Captial for expansion in South Korea, The Block Crypto further noted.
Ethereum Price Threat: Extensive DeFi Support Makes Solana Biggest Challenger
Solana has been primed to become Ethereum's biggest challenger due to its extensive DeFi support, with the network being faster and less expensive than the more prominent blockchain. Solana aims to reach 50,000 transactions per second in its maximum throughput.
Ethereum would only have around 10 to 15 transactions per second. Solana's design is of a proof-of-stake blockchain, wherein transaction would merely cost pennies, unlike Ethereum wherein users may pay hundreds of dollars in transaction fees.
Solana's native token, SOL, is currently trading at $37 after taking off early this year at $2 and reaching a high of $54 in May.
Solana Encouraging Developers to Build Apps on Platform
Solana has been very active in developing tools and networks for others to openly build on the blockchain. An example of this is Metaplex, which is said to be a "Shopify for NFTs," which allows artists or musicians to create stores to sell their digital collections (via Decrypt).
Solana carries such decentralized services as Serum, a $4 billion decentralized exchange, and users that include NFT marketplace Solible, and the non-custodial crypto-wallet Atomic.
Solana has went through five funding rounds, amassing a total $21.8 million, led by the $20 million from Multicoin Capital in 2019. If the reported $300 million to $450 million fund is accurate, then this would be among the six highest venture capital rounds in the history of the cryptocurrency market.
