Solana is a cryptocurrency that aims to complete the "needs triangle" of a cryptocurrency. These are: Security, Decentralization, and Scalability. For most cryptocurrencies, only two of the three needs are present. With almost all notable cryptocurrencies, security is present. That means that no one can directly influence the currency using hacks or the like. Decentralization means that the currency cannot be directly influenced by government institutions, companies or individuals (an example: no one can increase the maximum number of Bitcoins). What most currencies lack, however, is scalability. That means that a system can still run as well with increased volume and data as before.
Solana is a game-changer in the crypto world. Because with Bitcoin and Ethereum, you pay transaction fees with every transaction you make. In some cases, the fees are in double digits. Solana, however, is one step ahead. Transaction fees average $0.0001 per transaction. That's over 99% less than Bitcoin's transaction fees.
Latency also plays an important role in transactions. In concrete terms, this means how long it takes for a transaction to be completed. For Bitcoin, the latency is twelve minutes. Solana manages a transaction in 400 milliseconds (0.4 seconds). This is due to the fact that the blocks on the blockchain can be verified faster.
Visa, Mastercard, Bitcoin, all have a limited transaction volume. That is, how many transactions can be made in total, within one second. Visa and Mastercard have a volume of 1700 transactions per second. Bitcoin manages 4.6 transactions per second. Solana manages 50,000 transactions per second. The Bitcoin blockchain has to verify the blocks for a long time until a transaction can be completed. Solana manages this much faster, as already stated.
You've probably heard of NFTs before. These are images that you can buy with the help of cryptocurrencies. These images then belong to you and no one can steal it from you because you have signed a contract with the purchase of the image. The biggest currency you can use for NFTs is Ethereum. This creates a "smart contract" on the blockchain. This means that you are the proud owner of an NFT. Solana also offers the possibility to buy NFTs. And this for lower transaction fees and faster transfers.
