Anatoly Yakovenko, the founder of Solana (SOL), has shared new insights about the features that distinguish it from Ethereum (ETH).
Comparisons between blockchains and digital assets are common in the cryptocurrency industry. Over time, several blockchains are often placed side by side to determine the best technology. Despite their unique features, Solana and Ethereum are two of the networks that are most compared in the ecosystem.
Solana Founder on Solutions to Bugs
Beyond the features, Yakovenko noted that one fundamental difference between both networks is that price discovery turns out poorly when a global resource is saturated in Solana. The shortcoming is caused by the hardware’s limited capacity to handle the surging demand.
Ordinarily, this would serve as a control for the congestion problem. However, there is a need to scale the hardware to handle the new demand rather than raise transaction fees during periods of congestion.
Yakovenko said that the software limitations that hinder validators from conducting a hardware upgrade to manage traffic effectively are design flaws. He cited local contention as the only reason for high fees. The Solana founder wrote on X,
“If the software doesn’t allow the validators to add more hardware to deal with the new demand, it’s a bug in the software. Local contention that is irreducible should be the only thing to drive user fees.”
Furthermore, Yakovenko provided insights into the interaction between the hardware and software. He claimed that the maximum additional bandwidth that a system can achieve is around 1,000 times the hardware cost.
Significantly, these kinds of constraints showcase Solana’s emphasis on leveraging hardware upgrades to improve network performance
The Solana Throughput and Ethereum Scalability Challenge
Beyond the Solana push to address bugs, it compares with Ethereum in a very unique way. While Solana is generally lauded for its high throughput and low transaction costs, Ethereum is known for its smart contract versatility.
As a result, it has emerged as a strong contender in the race to challenge Ethereum, which is largely the dominant player in the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) niche. Despite this smart contract advantage, Ethereum has faced the challenge of scalability for many years.
The popularity surge in Decentralized Applications (dApps) and DeFi protocols fueled the congestion on the Ethereum network.
Fortunately for Ethereum, it is hailed as the go-to platform for smart contract development. The programming language Solidity is instrumental in creating a wide range of apps, but Solana still needs to catch up in this regard.
Solana And the Price Outlook
SOL has maintained a positive sentiment in the last few days, suggesting a bullish rally is ahead.
The coin boasts a robust ecosystem, and a few entities believe it is largely undervalued. As the fifth-largest coin, SOL has a market capitalization of $73.45 billion. The SOL price is $156.31, corresponding to a 1.25% increase in the last 24 hours as of writing.
Many are projecting a surge to $200 for Solana, a feat it can achieve if its DeFi boom continues.
The memecoin craze within the network can also quickly propel the Layer-1 network to a new high. As is expected for cryptocurrencies in the market, the “Uptober” effect should fuel more SOL price rallies.
