What is Solana (SOL)?
Solana (SOL) fact sheet with live price · reviewed November 4, 2026
Solana is a fast, low-fee blockchain that launched in 2020. It runs smart contracts like Ethereum but processes many more transactions per second. Its coin, SOL, pays fees and is staked to secure the network. It's popular for trading, payments and meme coins.
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Key facts
| Launched | March 2020 (mainnet beta) |
|---|---|
| Created by | Anatoly Yakovenko and Raj Gokal (Solana Labs) |
| How it's secured | Proof of stake, with proof of history for timekeeping |
| Supply | No fixed maximum; inflation started at 8% a year and falls 15% each year toward 1.5% |
| Speed | Blocks (slots) roughly every 0.4 seconds |
| Smallest unit | 1 lamport = 0.000000001 SOL |
| Ways to invest besides coins | US spot Solana ETPs since October 2025 |
Who runs it
About a thousand independent validators run the network. Solana Labs built the original software, the Solana Foundation (a Swiss nonprofit) funds the ecosystem, and other teams, including Jump's Firedancer, build alternative validator software.
What it's used for
Fast trading on decentralized exchanges, stablecoin payments, NFTs and a huge volume of meme-coin launches.
How it works
Validators stake SOL (and others can delegate to them) to produce blocks. Its design favors speed and low fees, which needs powerful validator computers. Half of each base fee is burned.
Where things stand (November 2026)
US spot Solana ETPs, some of which stake their SOL, have traded since October 2025. Validators approved a major consensus upgrade, Alpenglow, in 2025 to make transactions final much faster. Apps on Solana remain a target for hackers: the Drift exchange lost about $285 million in a 2026 exploit, though the Solana network itself wasn't breached.
Risks to know
- The network suffered several outages between 2021 and 2024, most recently in February 2024.
- Meme coins and "rug pulls" are especially common on Solana; most new tokens fail fast.
- Apps built on Solana can be hacked even when the network works as designed.
- SOL's price is highly volatile.
Buying and storing it
If you decide to buy, use a regulated exchange you reach directly, check fees with the true cost calculator, and store long-term holdings in a wallet you control, with the seed phrase written down offline. Read how to buy crypto safely. This page isn't a recommendation to buy.
Questions
Is Solana better than Ethereum?
It's faster and cheaper per transaction but more demanding to run a validator for. They make different trade-offs.
Can I stake SOL?
Yes, by delegating to a validator in many wallets, with the usual staking risks.
Why are there so many meme coins on Solana?
Creating a token costs very little there, and launch sites make it a one-click process. That also makes it easy for scammers.
Compare Solana
See it side by side, with live data: Ethereum vs. Solana, Cardano vs. Solana, Solana vs. Avalanche. Convert it with the SOL to USD converter. Track it in the private portfolio tracker.
Where to next
Sources
- Solana documentation
- Inflation schedule (Solana docs)
- Bitwise launches first US spot Solana ETP (Business Wire)
- Solana major outage (The Block)
- Crypto hacks hit record in H1 2026 (The Block)
Facts checked against the sources listed, as of November 4, 2026. Live price data by CoinGecko. Educational only; not financial advice. How we write and check pages.