The Most Recent Advancements in the Solana Ecosystem

Solana’s Recovery and Recent Developments

Solana faced challenges due to the FTX collapse, causing its SOL token to drop below $10. However, the chain has shown resilience and has been recovering since early 2023. As of now, the SOL token is hovering around $21.

New Developments in August 2023

August 2023 brought a wave of positive news for the Solana ecosystem. Let’s explore these exciting developments:

• Integration with ShopifyThe highlight of the month was Solana’s integration with Shopify. This move is significant as Shopify accounts for 10% of US e-commerce. Solana Pay, the integration’s feature, offers a substantial reduction in transaction fees compared to general credit card fees on Shopify. Furthermore, Solana Pay provides transaction fee exemptions until the end of 2023.
• Only-Possible-On-Solana CampaignThe Only-Possible-On-Solana campaign showcased the unique advantages of Solana. Notable achievements include Drip Haus releasing 25 million NFTs for only $3,000 and Hivemapper mapping the world using dashcams. Solana’s features like lightning-fast consensus, parallel transactions, scalable technology, and compressed NFTs enable such possibilities.
• Solana’s GPT-4 Plugin in the ChatGPT Plugin StoreA convenient plugin for Solana users, offering features like wallet balance tracking, transaction understanding, and NFT exploration.
• Return of Maple Finance to SolanaMaple Finance, a treasury management solution, is set to provide yield backed by US Treasury Bills, catering to DAOs and Web3 Treasuries on Solana.
• Elusive Offers Private Token SwapsElusiv introduces private DeFi on Solana, providing an alternative to transparent DEXes and enhancing user privacy during token swaps.
• DRIP Raises $3 MillionThe DRIP platform, offering daily NFTs, successfully raised $3 million in a seed round, attracting funding from VCs and angel investors.
• Brave’s Solana NFT Token GatingBrave Talk now allows SOL wallet users to utilize NFT avatars and token-gate access to video calls based on NFT ownership.
• Sign In With Solana (SIWS) by PhantomA seamless, secure, and decentralized authentication method for Solana users, eliminating the need for clunky ‘connect’ and ‘sign’ messages.
• Phoenix Exchange LaunchPhoenix Exchange, a fully on-chain DEX with features like instant settlement and atomic settlement, enters the market.
• Staking with Marinade NativeMarinade Finance introduces Native staking, allowing users to stake SOL and delegate to top-performing validators with ease.
• EUROe: Solana’s First Euro StablecoinMembrane Finance launches EUROe, the first native Euro stablecoin on Solana, compliant with MiCA regulations.
• African Solana-Based Art ExhibitionThe inaugural African Solana-based art exhibition showcases the work of 17 artists, organized by the ChaosDAO collective.

Conclusion

Despite challenges stemming from the FTX collapse, Solana has demonstrated resilience and progress. August 2023 witnessed a surge of innovative developments, indicating a brighter future for the Solana ecosystem.

The current SOL price stands at $20.30, with a market cap of $8.2 billion. The circulating supply is 408 million out of a total supply of nearly 556 million SOL tokens.