Avalanche and Solana are the two biggest networks compatible with EVM after Ethereum. These two blockchains attracted the attention of the crypto community with many innovations, which is the reason why they both increased in popularity in 2021. These blockchains appeared to be capable enough for creating advanced dApps, and they have been even considered real Ethereum killers.
Whilst these blockchains remain relevant because of their great safety and growth potential, many believe that AVAX is winning the competition right now. Is this true or just speculation in favor of AVAX&
Solana vs Avalanche
Claims that AVAX is a more reliable option for both users and investors aren’t just empty words. The first reason to be taken into account is that this blockchain is believed to provide a more advanced level of decentralization, which is crucial for crypto projects. This is caused by the technical peculiarities of a node on Solana's algorithm. It needs very sophisticated computing powers, which might cost a good fortune. As a result, many cannot afford it, which makes validation a duty of a small group of people.
Which network works faster?
Despite the centralization and safety concerns on Solana, it’s worth admiring for its high speed of execution of transactions. Solana has already announced that in 2023 the network will be able to execute 600,000 tps, whilst AVAX is capable of up to 4,000 tps, which is still higher than the performance of other networks.
This feature appeals to a big number of users because this improves the speed of their work and makes it more productive. Thus, many might neglect issues with the decentralization of the SOL protocol.
Which is better for NFT enthusiasts?
NFT marketplaces of both AVAX and SOL are evolving these days because of the recent popularity of digital art. However, in terms of figures, Solana seems a more influential ecosystem. Magic Eden, the biggest marketplace running on the Solana blockchain, has already seen a trading volume of more than $700 million since its launch.
Nevertheless, this doesn’t mean that the SOL ecosystem is better. Chikn, which is the biggest NFT project of Avalanche, has a market capitalization of $14.87 million, which is almost twice higher than the market cap of Magic Eden.
Which ecosystem has better liquidity?
When it comes to the liquidity for DeFi, the Avalanche ecosystem is better than Solana. Consider that the total value locked in DeFi on AVAX is almost $3 billion higher than the value locked on SOL – $10 billion vs $7.2 billion. Better liquidity also makes AVAX a more secure option and a better place to deal with dApps.
Which is more profitable for token holders?
AVAX has quite strict and well-defined requirements for those who want to earn from staking. Before holders can claim their stake rewards, they need to take part in a special program for a determined period of time. The longer this period is, the more rewards holders will earn. The duration of this period isn’t fixed – it’s affected by the number of coins in circulation.
Nevertheless, this program is worth participating in compared to the one offered by the Solana ecosystem. Staking SOL coins can bring an annual yield of around 6%. This figure increases by the second year.
Which cryptocurrency performs better?
As you might already know, price fluctuations of cryptocurrencies are heavily impacted by the overall performance of their native blockchains. Since their launch, both Solana and Avalanche have been showing quite a stable performance. However, Avalanche appeared to be more resistant to outages. Although Solana’s outages didn’t lead to a big collapse and huge losses, this was a good indicator for both users and investors.
As for the performance of the tokens themselves, both SOL and AVAX have been showing a good performance at the beginning of this year. They both entered 2023 at a value of around $11. Over the first month, SOL has gained 52%, whilst the AVAX price has increased by 42%.
The bottom line
It’s difficult to compare such competitive blockchain-based ecosystems and figure out which one is better. Except for the mentioned factors, there are a lot of technical peculiarities one should consider when choosing between two platforms. In general, we assume that these two blockchains are quite equal but Avalanche can be favored because of its higher decentralization and more stable performance with no outages during the recent period. Learn more about both cryptocurrencies before you consider investing in any other them.
