Solana vs Ethereum: Will Solana Overtake Ethereum in 2024?

Key takeaways:

• Ethereum’s Evolution: Ethereum, founded in 2013, has grown into the second-largest crypto, pioneering smart contracts and evolving into a global hub for decentralized applications.
• Solana’s Speed and Cost Efficiency: Solana, launched in 2020, distinguishes itself with a hybrid consensus model, enabling transaction verification within seconds at a minimal cost of $0.00025, addressing challenges in transaction fees and speed.
• Investment Considerations: Investors are advised to weigh the unique features, pros, and cons of Solana and Ethereum, considering factors like transaction speed, scalability, and platform stability before making investment decisions in the dynamic crypto market.

What is Ethereum?

Ethereum, the second-largest crypto in terms of market capitalization, operates as an open-source blockchain system featuring its native digital currency called Ether (ETH). Serving as a platform for various crypto, Ethereum facilitates the execution of Decentralized Smart Contracts.

In 2013, Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, along with his co-founder, outlined the concept in a white paper. Funding for the project was secured through a public crowd sale in 2014, leading to the official launch of the Ethereum blockchain on July 30, 2015. Since its inception, Ethereum has undergone several updates, with the most recent being the London Hard Fork.

Ethereum’s primary objective is to establish itself as the global hub for decentralized applications (Ethereum Dapps). This vision aims to empower programmers worldwide to create and run software that is free from censorship, fraud, and downtime. Ethereum introduced the widely used term “smart contracts,” pioneering the concept of executing contracts through blockchain technology. Co-founder Gavin Wood envisioned Ethereum as “one computer for the entire planet.”

More recently, the Ethereum Dencun Upgrade went live on the mainnet. This Ethereum Dencun upgrade brings along with it proto-danksharding and blobs, also known as EIP-4844 to bring in scaling efficiencies and lower transaction costs on the blockchain.

Additional Read: Bitcoin vs Ethereum

Key features of Ethereum:

• Smart contracts, introduced by Ethereum, are contracts whose terms are encoded directly into code, allowing for self-execution.
• Developers have the capability to construct decentralized applications (DApps) on the Ethereum blockchain, fostering the creation of trustless and censorship-resistant applications.
• Ethereum’s native crypto is employed for transactions and reward miners contributing to the network’s security.
• Featuring a Turing-complete virtual machine, Ethereum executes smart contracts, showcasing its versatility for a wide range of applications.
• Ethereum enables the formation of DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations), where code rather than individuals govern organizations, and decisions are reached through consensus.

Latest Ethereum News:

• Spot Ethereum ETF might be around the corner: With the spot Bitcoin ETFs out of the way, we could potentially be looking at a spot Ethereum ETF sometime in the near future. However, the timeline for this has not been set yet.
• On March 13, 2024, the Ethereum Dencun Upgrade went successfully live on the mainnet after having deployed it on all the Ethereum testnets. As mentioned earlier, this is a major improvement in the Ethereum network and the next step in its journey to Ethereum 2.0.

What is Solana(SOL)?

Solana, an open-source initiative, leverages the decentralized nature of blockchain technology to deliver cost-effective DeFi solutions with a primary emphasis on speed. While the initial development of the project commenced in 2017, it was formally introduced to the crypto community when the Solana Foundation launched it in March 2020.

The Solana protocol is engineered to facilitate the creation of decentralized applications, also known as DApps, by deploying smart contracts onto its blockchain. The goal of Solana is to enhance scalability through a unique combination of proof-of-history (PoH) consensus and the foundational proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus of the blockchain. As of March 2, 2022, the price of the SOL crypto stands at $104.69, having reached an all-time high (ATH) of $260.06 on November 6, 2021.

Notably, Solana’s speed and cost-efficient model enable the verification of payments on its chain within seconds, incurring an average cost of $0.00025. This aspect serves as Solana’s unique selling proposition (USP), addressing common challenges in the crypto space related to transaction fees and speed. The innovative hybrid consensus model of Solana ensures equal accessibility on the platform for both small-scale and institutional traders. The Solana Foundation places significant emphasis on broadening access to decentralized finance on a larger scale.

Additional Read: Solana vs Cardano

Key features of Solana:

• Solana employs the Proof of History (PoH) consensus mechanism for its SOL crypto, granting each node its independent clock and decision-making capability without the need for constant consultation with other nodes.
• The Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) algorithm in Solana safeguards the system from disruptions caused by the failure of a specific node, ensuring that the overall functionality remains unaffected.
• Within the Solana ecosystem, the capability for multiple smart contracts to operate simultaneously is facilitated, enhancing the efficiency and versatility of the platform.

Latest Solana News:

• Solana was one of the best performing major altcoins in the market in 2023 and 2024 is also turning out to be a strong year for this altcoin as it is the fourth largest crypto by market capitalization after Bitcoin, Ethereum and Binance Coin.

Comparison Basis	Solana (SOL)	Ethereum (ETH)
Launch Date	2020	2015
Founders	Anatoly Yakovenko and  Greg Fitzgerald	Vitalik Buterin and Gavin Wood
Blockchain Protocol	Solana Protocol	Ethereum Blockchain
Token Type	Utility & Governance	Utility & Governance
Market Cap*	$76 billion	$387 billion
Circulating Supply*	443.8 million SOL	120.07 million ETH
Consensus Method	Proof Of History (PoH)	Proof-of-stake (PoS)

Prices are as of March 2024.

*Source: CoinMarketCap

Pros and Cons of Solana vs Ethereum

Pros

Solana	Ethereum
SOL blockchain follows a stateless architecture, which makes it more open for developers to use as per their requirements.	Ethereum blockchain having most of the emphasis on features and improvements, makes it one of the best blockchain app development platforms.
Has a high transactional speed and has the ability to process up to 65,000 transactions per second.	It is one of the most stable and efficient blockchain platforms available in the crypto space.
As SOL incorporates a high performance protocol, it  helps the blockchain in its scalability.	The architecture of the ETH blockchain is suitable for developers to use and build various DApps.

Cons

Solana	Ethereum
The cost that is needed for the hardware support of Solana blockchain is costlier than most.	The various set of changes taking place on the ETH blockchain needs some time for the users to get used to.
SOL is not decentralized enough for today’s blockchain space.	The performance takes a toll due to its high resource requirements.
	Less transaction speed

Solana (SOL) vs Ethereum (ETH): Technical Analysis

Both Ethereum and Solana have seen a very positive 2024 so far, despite the brief correction we are currently witnessing in the crypto market. Solana is up about 68% while Ethereum is up about 50% in 2024 alone. This bodes well for the altcoins and the crypto market as a whole, since these two tokens represent the two largest players in the altcoin, smart contract platform category. 

Solana Price Prediction 2024

In the year 2024 alone, Solana has experienced an impressive surge of nearly 77%, catapulting it into the top 5 cryptos by market capitalization. This ascent briefly propelled Solana to fourth place, surpassing Binance Coin (BNB), and it currently maintains fifth place ahead of Ripple’s XRP and Cardano. 

Despite the bear market’s impact in early 2022, SOL price displayed a resilient recovery trajectory reminiscent of Bitcoin’s. As of 2024, Solana’s price hovers just below $180, exhibiting strong upward momentum, mirroring Bitcoin’s movements in anticipation of the Bitcoin Halving. 

Solana’s notable outperformance compared to its 50-day and 200-day exponential moving averages indicates a bullish golden crossover, suggesting potential sustained upward trends. Currently trading above the established R3 level for March 2024, marking its highest point in over 26 months, Solana’s breach of $170 sets the next target around the psychological level of $200. Positioned slightly above the psychological level at $130 and the R1 level of the Fibonacci pivot point at $133, this zone serves as a robust support area for Solana’s price on the downside.

Additional Read: Solana Price Prediction

Ethereum Price Prediction 2024

Leveraging Bitcoin’s significant uptrend, Ethereum’s price has exhibited remarkable bullish momentum in March 2024, propelled by the successful deployment of the Ethereum Dencun Upgrade. Despite briefly surpassing the critical $4000 threshold before the upgrade, ETH experienced a subsequent sell-off. 

However, a recovery is anticipated with the Bitcoin halving on the horizon. Throughout this correction phase, Ethereum has discovered sturdy support at the R1 Fibonacci level, which was flipped at the start of March 2024, signaling a minor rebound in progress. 

Ethereum price maintains a bullish outlook in the short and medium term, comfortably trading above both the 50-day and 200-day EMAs, as evidenced by a golden crossover. Currently, reaching its highest point in nearly two years, Ethereum is positioned to reclaim the $4000 milestone once the current phase of profit-taking concludes and renewed buying interest resurfaces. To fortify its position, Ethereum is expected to encounter support around the $3000 level, closely aligning with the base pivot of the Fibonacci levels.

Read On: ETH Price Prediction 2024

Solana (SOL) or Ethereum (ETH): Which is the better investment?

With the volatility of the crypto market and the recent multiple resetting of the same, the crypto giants have been a major interest for investors, mostly institutional or tech giants who have recently been acquiring native crypto tokens. 

As for the mass crypto investors, newer tokens with wider use case examples have crawled up the portfolios. Given we take that lens, Solana and its community are driving pretty big possibilities in the near future, whereas the native Ethereum has undergone various updates in the past years – with everything from the Ethereum Shanghai Upgrade to the more recently executed Ethereum Dencun Upgrade.

To put it simply, analysts suggest including a small percentage of the native crypto tokens like Ethereum in your portfolio to enjoy the passive income in the long run while also stating that if your own research points towards newer tokens like Solana. However, before choosing any crypto asset to invest in, it is imperative to conduct thorough research and deep dive into the projects.

How to invest in both Solana (SOL) and Ethereum (ETH)?

Investing in crypto has never been simpler, safer, and more secure with CoinDCX. It doesn’t matter whether you want to invest in the SOL or the ETH coin, we have got you covered.  CoinDCX, India’s safest and simplest crypto investment app is here for you to buy a Solana coin. 

All you need to do is follow these four simple steps to buy your first crypto with the CoinDCX app. 

• Download the CoinDCX app
• Complete your KYC
• Link your bank details and transfer funds
• Buy Solana (SOL) or Ethereum (ETH)