What Is Solana: How the Blockchain That Competes with Ethereum Works
Imagine you want to send 10 euros to someone and the transfer takes a few seconds, costs a fraction of a cent, and is recorded without going through a bank. Now imagine doing the same thing thousands of times per second. That, in a nutshell, is the idea behind Solana. Basically, it’s a blockchain built to move many operations quickly and at very low cost.
Its native token is SOL, which is used to pay network fees and also to participate in its staking system. But Solana isn’t just for sending cryptocurrencies. It’s the foundation for decentralized finance applications, marketplaces, stablecoins, NFTs, and payment systems.
In this article, we’ll explain how Solana works, what it’s used for, what advantages it offers over other blockchains, and what its main limitations are. By the end, you’ll have a clearer picture of what you can do with this network and whether it makes sense to use SOL in your everyday life.
What Is Solana in a Short Definition
Solana isn’t some otherworldly concept or something hard to understand. Basically, it’s a high-performance blockchain designed to execute many transactions per second at a very low cost. What sets this network apart from older ones is that it prioritizes speed and scalability without entirely sacrificing security. Most older networks prioritize maximum decentralization, and that’s what differentiates them.
As we mentioned earlier, Solana has its own native token, which is SOL, and of course, it serves several functions. These include paying network fees, participating in staking (which means delegating to help validate transactions), and serving as a unit of account within the ecosystem.
How It Manages to Process So Many Transactions
Solana processes between 1,000 and 4,000 transactions per second. It has also set daily records of over 150 million transactions in 2026. This isn’t by chance. To reach those numbers, the network doesn’t work like a traditional blockchain.
Nodes don’t have to agree on the order of each operation before moving forward. Instead, Solana uses a “cryptographic clock” called Proof of History (PoH). This mechanism generates a sequence of hashes where each new hash depends on the previous one. That’s how they create a verifiable timeline. Thanks to this, any validator can check when an event occurred without having to ask the others. This saves time and achieves greater speed when verifying transactions.
You might think that Proof of History (PoH) is a consensus mechanism like Proof of Work or Proof of Stake, but that’s not the case. It’s more of a way to order transactions before they enter consensus. This allows many operations to be processed in parallel and significantly reduces confirmation time.
If we add other technical optimizations to this, the result is a network capable of reaching thousands of transactions per second with costs well below a cent and confirmations in fractions of a second.
What Solana Is Used for in Practice
Solana isn’t just a network for sending SOL from one wallet to another. Various types of applications are built on this network, ranging from finance to stablecoin payments, not to mention NFTs and gaming.
In DeFi, Solana is one of the most active blockchains. By mid-2026, it already exceeds $11 billion in total value locked. This value is distributed across lending, exchange, and liquid staking protocols like Jupiter, Kamino, Jito, and Raydium.
When it comes to payments and stablecoins, the network is no slouch either. It has established itself as a fast and cheap settlement layer. In 2026 so far, it has processed a massive monthly volume of stablecoins, primarily USDC. Companies like Visa and platforms like Shopify already use it to move digital dollars and accept crypto payments.
Then there are NFTs. Some marketplaces like Magic Eden concentrate most of the collectible volume on Solana, and at the end of 2026, OpenSea added support for NFTs on this network.
The Weak Points You Should Know About
Not everything is rosy, and you know that here we always tell you both the good and the bad. Solana has clear advantages in speed and cost, but it also has trade-offs. The network has fewer validators than Ethereum, which implies a different decentralization model. Additionally, between 2021 and 2023, it suffered several episodes of downtime due to transaction overloads and bugs in validator software.
It’s also true that since 2024, total outages have become less frequent, and the team has been introducing improvements. One of the most notable changes is Firedancer, a new validator client that increases the network’s resilience and reduces the risk of shutdowns.
How to Buy and Store Solana
If after learning all of the above, you’re interested in buying Solana, don’t worry — today we’ll also tell you how to do it. The first step is deciding where and how to buy it. The most common approach is through an exchange or a regulated platform that supports Solana and lets you deposit euros easily. Here’s the step-by-step:
- Register on a platform that supports Solana, like Bitsa.
- Verify your identity according to the platform’s requirements (ID document, selfie, etc.).
- Deposit euros from your bank account or card.
- Buy SOL directly from the app, choosing the amount you want to allocate.
Once you have your tokens, the next step is deciding how to store them. To store your tokens, you have two main options:
- Exchange or platform wallets: convenient for beginners, because you don’t have to manage keys or recovery phrases. The downside is that the platform controls the keys, not you.
- Non-custodial wallets: where you manage the keys and the seed phrase. This gives you more control, but also more responsibility.
In a non-custodial wallet, security depends on how you store that recovery phrase. If you lose it, you lose access. If someone gets it, they can drain the wallet. That’s why it’s essential to keep it in a safe place, away from your phone and computer, and never share it with anyone.
Solana in the 2026 Crypto Landscape
In 2026, Solana has clearly established itself as one of the leading blockchains for high-performance applications. It competes directly with Ethereum in sectors like DeFi, NFTs, and payments, albeit with a different approach. While Ethereum prioritizes decentralization and security with a very wide network of validators, Solana prioritizes speed and low cost.
Both networks coexist and, in many cases, complement each other. Projects that need many cheap transactions tend to choose Solana, while those that prioritize maximum decentralization and long-term security may prefer Ethereum.
In any case, if you want to get on board with Solana in 2026 and not sit around waiting, it only takes 3 minutes to create your Bitsa account and buy it.
Frequently Asked Questions About Solana
Is Solana better than Ethereum? It’s neither better nor worse — it solves different problems. Ethereum prioritizes decentralization and security with over a million validators; Solana prioritizes speed and low cost with a few thousand. Each fits certain use cases better.
How much does a transaction on Solana cost? Usually below one cent of a euro, even during periods of heavy usage. It’s one of the reasons it’s so widely used for fast trading and small-amount operations.
Is it safe to store Solana in Phantom? Phantom is a non-custodial wallet: the user controls the keys, not the company. That means more responsibility but also more control. Security depends on how the seed phrase is managed.
Why does the Solana network go down sometimes? It has had several downtime episodes between 2021 and 2023, caused by transaction spam overload or bugs in validator software. The team has been fixing these issues, and since 2024, total outages have been rare. Firedancer, the new client being deployed, aims to further reduce this risk.
Can I pay with Solana in regular stores? Not directly — very few merchants accept SOL payments. The practical route involves converting to euros beforehand at an exchange or using a card that converts crypto to euros at the point of sale.
Solana isn’t a replacement for Ethereum or the next Bitcoin. It’s a blockchain with a specific technical proposition: speed and low cost, with notable trade-offs such as fewer validators and a history of occasional outages. Understanding how it works will help you read through the noise of price movements and decide whether it fits what you’re looking for. Always remember to do your own research and never invest more than you’re willing to lose.