Getting Started On Solana
An easy-to-understand beginner guide to getting started on Solana.
Solana is becoming one of the largest blockchains in the world.
Solana’s fast speeds, low transaction costs, and smart contract capabilities have caused the blockchain to become increasingly popular amongst developers, investors, and traders.
The Solana network now has over 11.5 million users and 21 million NFTs have been minted with an average transaction cost of $0.00025.
This beginner's guide will empower you to get started in the Solana ecosystem and provide you with the essential steps, tools, and resources you need to navigate through the world of Solana.
After reading this guide you will be confident to start your journey on Solana.
Let’s dive in!
What Is Solana?
Solana is a high-performance blockchain that was founded by former Qualcomm executive Anatoly Yakovenko in 2017.
The Solana blockchain uses a unique consensus mechanism known as Proof of History (PoH), in combination with Proof of Stake (PoS), to achieve its high speed and efficiency.
This innovative approach is what sets Solana apart and allows Solana to process thousands of transactions per second, which is significantly higher than many other blockchain platforms.
According to the Solana documentation,
“Solana is a blockchain built for mass adoption. It’s a high-performance network that is utilized for a range of use cases, including finance, NFTs, payments, and gaming. Solana operates as a single global state machine, and is open, interoperable, and decentralized”.
The Solana blockchain's primary goal is to outperform other popular blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum by enhancing scalability and speed while reducing costs for users.
For example, if we look at Ethereum, Ether is faster and cheaper than Bitcoin but Solana is even faster and more cost-effective than Ether.
This makes it a great infrastructure player when it comes to building on the blockchain and for mass adoption.
If you would like to dive deeper into how the Solana blockchain works, you can read the full whitepaper here.
Important Key Takeaways About Solana:
- The Solana network was made for mass adoption
- The Solana network is fast and has block times of 400 milliseconds (Bitcoin has block times of 10 minutes)
- Solana is scalable and is made to handle thousands of transactions per second and fees for both developers and users remain less than $0.0025
- The Solana network is decentralized and validated by thousands of nodes
- Solana is energy efficient and Solana’s proof of stake network minimizes its impact on the environment (each Solana transaction uses about the same energy as a few Google searches)
You can find this information on the Solana home page here.
SOL: What Is The Sol Token?
You might be wondering what SOL means, if SOL is a good investment, or if SOL is the next Ethereum.
So let’s get into it.
Solana has a native cryptocurrency or token called SOL.
SOL is used to incentivize network participation and pay transaction fees within the Solana ecosystem.
In the last 24 hours, there was over $7,562,792,985 worth of SOL traded.
SOL can be purchased at major crypto exchanges and stored using a crypto wallet like a Phantom or Trust Wallet.
Pro Tip: If you are planning on using the Solana blockchain, it may be beneficial to keep a little SOL in your wallet at all times.
You can further explore the Solana Blockchain at Solscan where you can see important information like top markets, the total supply of SOL, current Epoch, network transactions, and total SOL staked.
You can also see a dashboard of popular NFT collections and a DeFi dashboard.
Fun Fact: There are a total of 312,066 NFT collections, 3,702,896 NFTs, and 22 Marketplaces on Solana.
Staking SOL
One of the coolest features of Solana is that users can stake their SOL tokens and earn rewards.
According to Solana, SOL token holders can earn rewards and help secure the network by staking tokens to one or more validators on Solana’s Mainnet Beta.
To stake SOL tokens, you must use a wallet that supports staking. Not all wallets support staking, but SolFlare.com is one user-friendly wallet that currently supports staking.
To create a stake account, you must follow the wallet’s instructions for creating a staking account.
It’s important to note that this account will be a different type than the one used to send and receive tokens.
You can learn more about staking and inflation on the FAQ sheet here.
How To Set Up A Solana Wallet
If you want to receive SOL tokens on the Solana blockchain, you must first create a wallet.
What is a Solana wallet? A Solana wallet is simply a crypto wallet.
According to Solana, a crypto wallet is a device or application that stores a collection of keys and can be used to send, receive, and track ownership of cryptocurrencies.
To set up a Solana wallet, you must select the wallet you want to use and follow the steps required to install and set it up.
There are several browsers and mobile app-based wallets that support Solana.
To make it easier for you, I’ve listed 15 different wallet options that are available to Solana users.
15 Supported Wallets At Solana:
- OKX: one of the world’s leading crypto exchanges, listed SOL on September 30th, 2020
- Phantom: Phantom is a digital wallet tailored for Solana and Ethereum
- Trust Wallet: Trust Wallet is a mobile wallet that supports SOL
- Backpack: A home for your xNFTs
- Gem Wallet
- Solflare
- Neon Wallet
- Infinity Wallet
- Trustee Wallet
- Dexlab
- XDEFI Wallet
- TokenPocket
- Spot wallet
- Crossmint
- Ledger
To help you even further, here’s an example of how you can set up a Phantom wallet.
The Phantom wallet is a crypto wallet reimagined for DeFi and NFTs. Users have the option to download it for Desktop or Download for mobile.
The phantom extension is the wallet I use. It has over 3,000,000 users and is very easy to install.
With the Phantom app and/or extension, you can store all of your assets in one place, do more with your NFTs, list directly from your wallet, understand what you’re signing, and move crypto across chains with ease.
You can also use your Phantom wallet for staking on Solana.
Now you might be wondering what all you can do on Solana.
Let’s take a look at what you can do on Solana and spotlight some key communities and apps you may want to join.
How To Navigate The Ecosystem Of Solana
Since Solana is home to thousands of user-friendly web3 apps, payments, NFTs, DeFi, and games.
There are many opportunities for artists, developers, content creators, gamers, traders, and investors to get involved and build in the Solana ecosystem.
Here are some examples of things you can do in the Solana ecosystem and a few key communities you might want to check out.
Here’s what can you do on Solana:
- Explore the hottest NFT Projects on Solana
- Explore top marketplaces
- Play the latest Web3 games
- Solana hackathons
Let’s take a look further.
Explore The Hottest NFT Projects on Solana
There is an explosive NFT ecosystem at Solana.
The Solana ecosystem allows users to mint, buy, sell, and trade NFTs for profit or pleasure. So if you want to participate in the NFT marketplace, you will need to keep some SOL tokens in your wallet.
There have been over 110M+ total NFTs minted on the Solana blockchain.
One of my favorite NFT projects on Solana is Giraffe Tower.
Giraffe Tower is an NFT project that helps creators make money. It was first launched on Ethereum in October of 2021.
However because of high gas fees on ETH, the NFT project chose to migrate the collection to Solana in May of 2023.
Another cool thing about the Giraffe Tower is Gary Club. Gary Club is a web3 community built on Solana that was created by the founder of Giraffe Tower.
What’s cool about Gary Club is its transparent newsfeed, gamified marketing, and ability to reward creators for taking certain actions within the community.
The newsfeed publically shows everything from when creators get paid for new referrals, NFT sales, POW submissions, paid posts, and all transactions within the community.
Everything is built on top of Solana.
If you are interested in joining Gary Club, please join using my link.
Now, let’s take a look at some of the top NFT marketplaces.
Top NFT Marketplaces
If you are interested in buying, selling, or bidding on NFTs, there are many secondary marketplaces available to you.
Here’s a list of a few of the top Solana NFT marketplaces where you can discover new art, communities, and projects.
Fun Fact: There are a total of 312,066 NFT collections, 3,702,896 NFTs, and 22 Marketplaces on Solana.
Top Solana NFT Marketplaces:
- Tensor: Tensor is a leading Solana NFT marketplace for pro and casual traders. Find features like floor price charts and fun games like YOLO buy.
- Magic Eden: Magic Eden is a popular marketplace and launchpad that aims to help creators mint their collections without any technical know-how.
- hyperspace: Hyperspace is a marketplace and aggregator for Solana NFTs, enabling users to seamlessly browse, collect, and trade NFTs across multiple Solana marketplaces.
- Solanaart: Solanart is an NFT marketplace that offers access to digital collectibles, allowing users to explore, purchase, and sell NFTs from multiple artists and collections.
There are also other hot projects on Solana like Backpack, the first wallet built for xNFTs, Tensor, and Helium.
You can browse more here.
The next example is an NFT drop platform on Solana that allows you to get free NFTs every week.
DRiP
DRiP is an NFT drop platform that rewards you every week for your time and attention by rewarding you with free high-quality art, music, comics, games, and more.
DRiP has given away over 4 million free collectibles to hundreds of thousands of users.
With DRiP’s pixelated mini-game, Legendary Lock-In, you can play for a chance to upgrade your drop rarity.
The more you play the better your chances are of getting a rare NFT.
Now this brings us to the fun part, Web3 gaming.
Let’s talk about it.
Play The Latest Web3 Games
Gaming on Solana is growing at a rapid pace.
There are currently 88+ live Solana games and many of them have grown to be super popular amongst gamers.
A great use case of a popular game on Solana is Star Atlas.
The popular next-gen space game has accumulated a whopping 330,300 followers on X.
Star Atlas is a high-fidelity, immersive space adventure, and grand strategy MMO built in Unreal Engine 5 and sustained by a real galactic economy.
If you want to learn more about the game or are interested in playing Star Atlas, you can play here.
Photo Finish LIVE Virtual Horse Racing
Another popular game on Solana is Photo Finish LIVE Virtual Horse Racing.
Photo Finish LIVE Virtual Horse Racing is an up-and-coming game on Solana. This game is even an official partner with the Kentucky Derby.
The game Photo Finish Live allows you to breed virtual horses and run authentic races against real players for real money.
While some horses are making big bucks, you don’t need to buy an expensive horse to be profitable.
Solana Hackathons
Another great way to get started in the Solana ecosystem is to participate in Solana hackathons.
Hackathons give students, writers, and content creators a way to earn rewards and money for their creations.
Solana’s first-ever hackathon is going on right now and submissions end soon. But don’t worry the next Solana hackathon starts March 4th!
Did you know that 80% of all venture-backed startups in the Solana ecosystem were started in hackathons?
If you're interested in Solana Scribes, visit their website to submit content for bounties and projects.
Or make sure to follow Lamport DAO, Solana Collective, Helius Labs, and Superteam Earn on X for updates and various networking opportunities.
How To Stay Up To Date With Solana
If you would like to stay up to date with Solana’s fast-evolving landscape, you can find everything you need to know on the Solana website.
Head over to the Solana website and click the “Community” tab at the top of the screen. From there you can find how to get involved plus all of the latest news, events, and resources about the Solana ecosystem.
Also, take note of the colorful banner at the top that notifies you of the next Solana hackathon. Super important will be listed there.
Make sure to check out the Community Resource Hub tab as you can read the blog, listen to the podcast, or visit them on any of their communication channels like Telegram, X, YouTube, Reddit, or Discord.
Final Thoughts
Without question, the Solana blockchain is one of the most cost-efficient and fastest blockchains out there.
If you haven’t checked out Solana (SOL), now is the time.
I hope you found this guide helpful.
If you did, please give me a follow and make sure to check out Solana Scribes and the amazing team on X.
