Solana Investor
Solana Vs. Chainlink – What’s the Difference?
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When learning the key differences between Solana and Chainlink, it's vital to understand that the two networks serve very different roles in the market. These projects may share certain traits, such as popularity, but from there, the many differences become obvious. Here's some valuable insight into Solana vs. Chainlink.
What is Solana?
Solana is a third-generation open-source public blockchain. This layer 1 protocol supports high-speed transactions and smart contract programmability. The network features an open and adaptable infrastructure that supports the creation of blockchain assets and networks.
Notably, the project was founded by Anatoly Yakovenko and Raj Gokal in 2018. Solana went live in 2020, with the first block logged on March 16 of the same year. Interestingly, the name Solana refers to a quiet beach town that the developers lived in for many years before launching the project. Today, Solana is one of the most popular blockchains in the market.
Source – Solana Homepage
What is Chainlink?
Chainlink operates as a decentralized Oracle network and infrastructure provider. The platform is open source and public – similar to Solana. However, Chainlink was built to serve a much different role than Solana in that its main goal is to support the integration and creation of a decentralized oracle network.
Oracles are sensors that enable blockchains to connect to nearly any actions on or off-chain. There are oracles that do things like monitor payments to release documents at the time of completion, monitor weather, track stocks, and everything else you can imagine. As such, oracles are a crucial part of today's crypto market.
Chainlink entered the market as a smart contract consulting firm in 2014 before changing focus towards oracles in 2017. Sergey Nazarov and Steve Ellis are the founders of this unique network. Today, Chainlink is a vital component of many other platforms' operations. Its reliable and secure oracles have earned a reputation as one of the best options for those seeking oracles.
What Problems Was Solana Built to Alleviate?
Solana was designed to eliminate or reduce very specific issues that existed at the time of its entrance into the market. Solana was created when Ethereum, the world's top DeFi and token launch network, was amid massive slowdowns and high fees due to congestion.
Solana's developers wanted to provide a more programmable and easier-to-use blockchain experience. They desired to make the network more flexible and easier to work with for Dapp developers. This strategy has proved successful as the platform continues to garner new Dapps.
Another major pain point that Solana targets are network fees. It was amid record-high fees when Solana launched. The network charges a fraction of the cost of using Ethereum. Additionally, it's much faster than the original Ethereum network. Solana can handle 29,171 tps.
What Problems Was Chainlink Built to Alleviate?
Chainlink was developed to tackle a very specific issue that had plagued the crypto market for years. The platform's developers wanted to make it easy and cost-effective to integrate distributed oracles into Dapps. This concept was revolutionary at the time, as most networks relied on centralized oracles.
Corrupt Oracles
The problem with that approach was that data could be corrupted and entered into the blockchain incorrectly. Since most public blockchains are immutable and uneditable, this bad information could cause a slew of issues down the line. To combat these concerns, Chainlink introduced a self-monitoring and healing oracle network.
There are a lot of efficiencies gained from using Chainlink as opposed to creating custom oracles. For one, the research and testing of new oracles can be a time-consuming and expensive task. Additionally, to provide the same level of service, you would need to create a decentralized self-checking and healing network which is far outside the budget of most projects.
Source – Chainlink Homepage
Roadblocks to Integration and Adoption
Chainlink makes it easy for developers to integrate a decentralized oracle system into their dapps without the need to master new coding. The process continues to be streamlined to help improve results. Today, there are a variety of networks leveraging Chainlink oracles to send and receive data.
How Does Solana Work?
Solana leverages two consensus mechanisms to improve performance. The primary Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus system enables users to stake their tokens to secure passive returns. The network has a 2.34-second block time currently.
Solana is one of only a few blockchain networks that leverage dual consensus systems to improve performance. The Proof of History (POH) protocol leverages time stamps to create a cryptographic clock that speeds up the reference process.
SOL
Sol is the utility token for Solana. It can be staked and used to pay for transaction fees. Developers also use SOL to cover gas fees. SOL is a popular token that can be found on most top-performing CEXs (centralized Exchanges) at this time.
How Does Chainlink Work?
Chainlink operates as a decentralized oracle network. The system uses a self-healing protocol that monitors the input of oracles from multiple sources and then cross-references the results against others. Oracles that provide slow or incorrect results get penalized or removed automatically.
Chainlink leverages a dual token approach which enables the community to distinguish which network nodes are the most reliable. This structure has proven to be effective as today Chainlink is the premier oracle provider to the industry,
LINK
LINK is the main utility token for Chainlink. The token is issued to pay for services and other network tasks. The platform also leverages a secondary token called REP which is used to reward the most consistent and effective node operators.
How to Buy Solana (SOL) and Chainlink (LINK)
Currently, Solana (SOL) and Chainlink (LINK) are each available for purchase on the following exchanges.
Uphold – This is one of the top exchanges for United States & UK residents that offers a wide range of cryptocurrencies. Germany & Netherlands are prohibited.
Uphold Disclaimer: Terms Apply. Cryptoassets are highly volatile. Your capital is at risk. Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment, and you should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong..
Kraken – Founded in 2011, Kraken is one of the most trusted names in the industry with over 9,000,000 users, and over $207 billion in quarterly trading volume.
The Kraken exchange offers trading access to over 190 countries including Australia, Canada, Europe, and is a top exchange for USA residents. (Excluding New York & Washington state).
Solana Vs. Chainlink – Projects that Could Work Together
As you delve deeper into the Solana Vs. Chainlink discussion, it's easy to see that both the platforms could work together across several Dapps. Solana's ultra-fast performance and Chainlink's reliability make a good combo for dApp development. For these reasons and many more, both projects are a solid addition to your portfolio.
