SOLANA

Data and Information Solana is a public base-layer blockchain protocol that optimizes scalability. The goal is to provide a platform that allows developers to create decentralized applications (dApps) without needing to design around performance bottlenecks. Solana has a new timestamp system called Proof-of-History (PoH) that allows automatically ordered transactions. It also uses a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus algorithm to help secure the network. Additional design goals include sub-second settlement times, low transaction fees, and support for all LLVM-compatible smart contract languages. History The origins of Solana began in late 2017 when founder Anatoly Yakovenko published a draft whitepaper describing a new timekeeping technique for distributed systems called Proof-of-History (PoH). In blockchains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, one of the limitations of scalability is the time required to reach consensus on the order of transactions. Anatoly believes his new technique can automate the transaction ordering process for blockchains, providing a key piece that will allow crypto networks to scale far beyond their capabilities at the time. Anatoly then teamed up with former Qualcomm colleague Greg Fitzgerald to build a single blockchain network in Rust that used PoH as an “internal clock”. The two released the first internal testnet (with a demo) and an official version of the project's whitepaper in February 2018. Another former Qualcomm cohort, Stephen Akridge, suggested that offloading signature verification to the graphics processor could further improve transaction throughput (i.e., scalability). Anatoly recruited Greg and Stephen, and three other people to start the company that would eventually become Solana Labs.