If You are new to the blockchain and cryptocurrency ecosystem, you would have heard about various blockchains and must be confused about the differences and which one to choose. We will compare Ethereum and Solana Blockchain today and see their difference and similarity.
Let’s Start with the history of both.
History
Ethereum
The idea for Ethereum came to Vitalik Buterin in 2013. The crowd work funded development for Ethereum started in 2014 and it went live on 30th July 2015. Other co-founders of Ethereum are Gavin Wood, Charles Hoskinson, Anthony Di Iorio and Joseph Lubin.
Solana
Solana blockchain idea was proposed in a white paper by Anatoly Yakovenko in November 2017. Other co-founders of Solana include Greg Fitzgerald, Stephen Akridge.
Transaction Speed
Ethereum
15 transactions per second (TPS)
Solana
65,000 transactions per second (TPS)
Transaction Cost
Ethereum
Average fees could be as high as 10% of transaction cost.
Solana
Average Fees in $0.00025 per transaction
Popularity
Ethereum
Ethereum is one the most popular blockchain out there, second only to bitcoin. Its market cap stands at $386 Bn. Majority of the NFTs(~95%) are present on Ethereum blockchain.
Solana
Solana is a slightly newer blockchain but has been gaining momentum. Its market cap is $36 Bn.
Technology
Ethereum
Ethereum uses Proof Of Work as a consensus mechanism for validating transactions. This is the same protocol used by Bitcoin. This is a time tested protocol and is very secure. Although Ethereum uses the same protocol for transaction validation it differs from Bitcoin in that it is a programmable blockchain. This means not only can we use this blockchain for transferring money but it can also be used as a decentralized replacement of backend infrastructure of web apps. This gave rise to the term Web3, where backend runs on decentralized networks like Ethereum.
Proof Of Work although very secure limits the transaction speed as it takes time to achieve consensus. Ethereum developers have been working on another consensus mechanism called Proof Of Stake. This is supposed to increase the transaction speed as well as decrease the transaction cost.
Solana
Solana is also a programmable blockchain similar to Ethereum. It differs from Ethereum in that it used Proof Of History as a consensus mechanism for validating transactions. This makes it very fast and transactions are much cheaper on this.
So which is Better?
Both blockchains have their pros and cons, while Solana is faster and cheaper, Ethereum is more secure and has a much bigger ecosystem. Ultimately it is up to us to decide which one we prefer.
