Solana vs. Ethereum: Clash of the Titans

In this article, we compare two leading blockchains in the cryptocurrency sector: Solana and Ethereum.

Both companies have developed DeFi ecosystems and a wide range of successful applications built within them.

The two networks work together to create the most prosperous web3 environment and become the leading layer of the future blockchain.

The problem is also being solved at the token level: ETH and SOL are trying to offer the highest yield on the market.

Let’s take a closer look at everything below.

Solana vs Ethereum: Key Differences on a Technological Level

We are talking about one of the hottest and most intense clashes on the technology front in the last decadeand also the most talked about war in the cryptosphere Solana vs. Ethereum.

By now, it is common knowledge that these two blockchains have been competing for the title of dominant web3 infrastructure for many years.

However, in reality they differ significantly in many respects: Ethereum is an EVM network created using the Solidity programming language while Solana is SVM built using C, C++ and Rust.

This alone is enough to highlight two poles where decentralized application development occurs according to different coding rules.

In addition, the concept of “check” also varies significantly depending on the context, whether it is used in an Ethereum or Solana environment.

Actually, In Ethereum, the term “account” is used to describe an entity that owns ether (ETH) and can initiate transactions.. It is classified as follows:

• EOA (external account): an account that has a private key, conceptually similar to a wallet;
• CA (Contract Account): an account for smart contracts that do not have a private key.

To put it simply, EOA has no storage space and therefore cannot be used as a contract to conduct transactions (except for exceptions with ERC-4337).

CA, on the other hand, is just a program executed by the EVM with code (a contract) that distinguishes it. So EOA can make a call through CA, but not vice versa!

However, on the opposite front, Solana’s concept of “check» is broader and refers to an entity that can always store and save data.

The state of transactions is thus stored using accounts in a manner similar to what happens in operating systems such as Linux. It is worth noting that Solana natively supports the account abstraction feature, allowing self-calls between programs.

There are two types of accounts in Solana:

• Executable account (program account): smart contracts, called “programs,” that store code;
• Non-executable account (data account): entities that can receive tokens or data, but cannot execute code.

Below is a map of the main technical differences.

Source: https://solana.com/developers/evm-to-svm/accounts

Two Different Approaches to Developing DeFi Environments

Going down to a less technical level, we notice that Ethereum and Solana Take Different Marketing Approaches for relevant DeFi environments.

While both networks aim to attract the broadest possible capital and user base, they focus on different segments.

In fact, Ethereum is more of a “institutional» character, whose core values ​​are focused on network security and decentralization.

Solana, on the other hand, has more “smart» personality focused on operational scalability and cryptographic efficiency.

They follow the limitations of both blockchains separately: Ethereum for scalability, Solana for decentralization.

Ethereum represents a TVL of $59 billion, which is much larger than Solana’s $3.5 billion. For this reason, The fund uses softer communications with the public and with less intention of creating interaction.

Solana, on the other hand, is completely focused on innovation, user experience, and transaction throughput. Recent innovations launched, such as the Saga smartphone and Blinks, speak volumes about the approach the network is taking to retail.

It can be said that Ethereum is a less productive blockchain, sometimes less “convenient”, but more secure and reliable.

Solana is much more “convenient” and efficient to use, but is less decentralized, multi-client based, and less secure.

If you are a wealthy individual with a moderate risk tolerance, you will probably value Ethereum more.

If you’re young, fearless, and on a budget, you’ll probably find Solana’s capabilities more appealing.

Main web3 dapps of two ecosystems

The war between the two titans Ethereum and Solana continues exclusively in the area of ​​creating the best web3 decentralized applications.

On Ethereum, the largest dapp by TVL is liquid staking platform Lido, which alone has attracted nearly 10x the total capital absorbed by Solana.

Next we find successful dapps such as EigenLayer, Aave, Maker, Ether.fi, Uniswap, RocketPool, Ethena and Pendle.

Source: https://en.cryptonomist.ch/categoria/crypto/ethereum-en/

In the Solana protocol suite, we find Jito as the top dApp with a TVL of $1.74B, followed by the most used dApps Marinade, Kamino, Sanctum, Jupiter, Marginfi, Drift, BlazeStake, Meteora, and Solend.

Source: https://defillama.com/chain/Solana

Most Ethereum dapps are integrated with various layer-2providing greater scalability. At the same time, differentiation of requests on the blockchain leads to fragmentation of liquidity, which is often inconvenient.

For this reason, Ethereum is often criticized by its opponents because it has to rely on external solutions as a settlement layer for its development.

On the other hand, the competitor is criticized for the lack of a thriving and secure DeFi ecosystem: almost all dapps on Ethereum exceed Solana’s total TVL!

Anyway, that’s how it is It’s worth noting that Solana produces some very interesting products, such as the recent platform pump.fun.

Introduced as a launchpad for memecoin, it has managed to become the most profitable dapp in the entire crypto ecosystem in a short time.

On July 1, a record-breaking $2 million in collections was recorded, which even exceeded the entire income of the entire Ethereum blockchain.

Introductory part.

Speculative War: Solana with SOL vs. Ethereum with ETH

The Solana vs. Ethereum standoff can only be resolved by focusing on their gas tokens SOL and ETH.

Obviously, the better these cryptocurrencies perform on a speculative level, the more users are interested in buying them and joining the community.

The metric of active addresses and transaction volume, in fact, largely depends on the price dynamics of SOL and ETH.

Both networks are interested in increasing the price of their coins, both to improve intra-network performance and for obvious economic reasons.

In 2024, both coins showed similar trends, growing by about 50% from January prices.However, in the last quarter of 2023, SOL grew at a faster pace, attracting more new buyers compared to Ethereum.

At the moment, SOL and ETH are close to their all-time highs, with the latter appearing to be slightly ahead.

The price dynamics of these two coins from now until the end of the bull market will be critical for the further adoption of blockchain technology.

Also crucial in the coming months will be the upcoming launch of spot ETFs for two cryptocurrencies, first Ethereum and then (possibly) Solana, which will help attract more capital inflows.

At stake is dominance as a settlement layer for major financial transactions in the cryptocurrency world.

However, there is no certainty that in the future only one network between Solana and Ethereum will survive., and indeed, the coexistence scenario is much more likely.

It is obvious that there will be a network that will have a larger market share, but this does not exclude the existence of another

Although in the perspective of coexistence, the dispute between maximalists will continue for many years to come.

As we can see from the historical rivalry between Pepsi and Coca Cola, which has been going on for over 100 years, the battle for supremacy is always around the corner.