Why are non-Ethereum based platforms gaining popularity?
Although Ethereum has remained the gold standard for blockchain-based applications and smart contracts for several years, its considerable size has led to scaling issues, which means that transactions and applications become slow as more and more users are added to the network.
As the Ethereum blockchain grows, its footprint for users and miners is getting bigger.. Furthermore, its algorithmic programming is outdated, which makes it inefficient for the processing capacity of the Ethereum chain, leading to a lower number of transactions per second (TPS). Ethereum's TPS was about 12,287 in November 2022. This compares to infinite TPS for Avalanche, 250 TPS for Cardano, close to 3.000 TPS for Solana, and 60 TPS for Build N Build (BNB) chain.
These factors affect the adoption, use, and price of the Ethereum blockchain, leading to the growth of non-Ethereum-based platforms that circumvent these shortcomings.
In these two articles, we will be looking at various alternatives to the Ethereum blockchain that are expected to improve efficiency and overall user experience.. We have shortlisted the major players based on their popularity, use cases, and profitability.
Competition in the non-Ethereum-based platform market is increasing
Several large public tech companies like IBM and Amazon Microsoft have entered the blockchain space, launching products like IBM Blockchain and Amazon Managed Blockchain (AMB) Microsoft Azure Blockchain. Many private, publicly traded token companies have also recently entered the space.
Let's take a closer look at the major private players and explain their use cases, their most recent initiatives and developments, and their most prominent customers.
Solana
The blockchain development platform Solana, based in Switzerland, was created in 2017. Solana is a decentralized blockchain built to enable scalable and easy-to-use applications globally.. The scalability of the network ensures profitable transactions that are priced at less than $0,01 for users and developers. Solana is fast, with block times of about 400 milliseconds. The Solana network is spread over thousands of independent nodes and is resistant to censorship. Solana strives to support all high-frequency, high-growth blockchain applications and democratize the world's financial systems.
Solana use cases include:
- Arrangements for scaling solutions
- Functioning as a blockchain development platform
- Support for decentralized applications (DApps)
- Provisions for infrastructure
Neon Labs to Deploy Ethereum-Based Applications Through Solana
Neon Labs plans to install an Ethereum-based smart contract layer on the Solana blockchain on December 12, 2022. Called the Neon Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), the project will aim to underpin the EVM – a system that will allow developers to build applications. Ethereum using Solana. Ethereum Virtual Machine is one of the most widely used computing standards for developing smart contracts.
Neon plans to install a smart contract platform on Solana that will allow developers to deploy Ethereum-based applications.. Neon plans to enable Ethereum application development on Solana by making the compute layer and developer tools available on Ethereum. This is likely to reduce the reluctance of Ethereum developers to expand to Solana.
"Ethereum-based projects can, for the first time, take advantage of Solana's audience and liquidity, previously inaccessible, without the need to rewrite their code in Rust"said Marina Guryeva, CEO and Founder of Neon Labs. "As a result, users will now be able to enjoy enhanced user experiences on Solana without losing Ethereum's battle-tested DApps," she explained.
Major Ethereum-based projects, including Aave, Sobal, and Curve, are preparing to launch on Neon EVM once their mainnet launches.
How FTX Bankruptcy Affects Solana
Crypto exchange FTX and its sister company Alameda Research filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on November 8, 2022. Solana has some ties to FTX, which are explained below.
On November 11, 2022, a hacker made more than $400 million worth of unauthorized withdrawals on FTX. Serum, a liquidity center for Solana tokens developed by FTX, is in the process of forking due to its possible involvement in the FTX hack. Solana was following developer efforts to "contain the risks around Serum," according to a spokesperson for the Solana Foundation.
The Solana $SOL token began to crash in November 2021, losing 95% of its value, partly due to the general crash in the crypto markets and partly due to the bankruptcy of FTX. $SOL is down 51,5% since November 8, 2022. Market expectations that Alameda, a company owned by Sam Bankman-Fried (FTX founder), could dump millions of $SOL tokens have also contributed. to the collapse of the value of the tokens.
Cardano
Cardano, based in Switzerland, is a third-generation proof-of-stakes blockchain platform that was created in 2016. It was the first platform created from peer-reviewed research and has been developed using evidence-based methods. The Platform technology provides sustainability and security to DApps, systems and societies. Cardano users can express their opinion on the development of the project by depositing a fixed amount of cryptocurrency into the network. This allows the platform to be low cost, fast, and more energy efficient compared to platforms that use proof-of-work consensus.
In addition, Cardano's system is transparent and fair because the company wants to put power at the disposal of individuals instead of large corporations. Cardano users can also create and deploy DApps using smart contracts.
The Vasil hard fork of Cardano went live in September 2022. The fork will enable the use of DApps and smart contracts without the need for a central administrator on the Cardano network.
Cardano Use Cases
Cardano is an evolving platform. It has multiple applications in different industry verticals, including education, retail, agriculture, government, finance, and healthcare.
Investments in Cardano will boost its ecosystem
In September 2022, EMURGO founder Ken Kodama announced that EMURGO would invest over $200 million over the next 3 years to support the growth of the Cardano ecosystem. EMURGO is a founding member of the Cardano protocol. Support, develop and incubate business opportunities, helping to integrate organizations into the Cardano blockchain system. As a for-profit division of Cardano, EMURGO aims to advance the platform and drive further adoption through commercial enterprises.
The funding will go towards projects that are directly based on Cardano and projects from other networks that create products that are expected to integrate their networks alongside Cardano's. Kodama also said that $100 million of the funding would go towards EMURGO's African investment initiative.
Kodama believes that Cardano already has the necessary infrastructure in place to grow the network for years to come.
