Blockchain technology is developing at a rapid pace, with more users and investors joining the flow. Investors are looking toward cryptocurrency projects that can solve the problems of scalability, decentralization, and security. In this regard, Solana (CRYPTO:SOL) and Avalanche (CRYPTO:AVAX) are two popular choices that one can consider for investment.
Experts believe both these crypto coins as potential Ethereum killers and have the capability to grow in future. Both can be great long-term investment options.
However, for those who are torn between which one to invest in, let’s take a deeper look.
Solana
Solana is one of the most scalable networks in the crypto world and has served as a building block for some of the world’s most popular applications like Brave Browser, StepN, and many other projects.
This cryptocurrency works on both Proof-of-Stake (PoS) and Proof-of-History (PoH) consensus mechanisms. The PoS mechanism allows the validators on this blockchain to verify transactions based on the number of tokens or coins a user holds. The PoH mechanism facilitates these transactions to be timestamped based on the duration between two events and thus get quickly verified.
This blockchain has a theoretical throughput of more than 50,000 transactions per second and over 200 nodes. Thus, if an investor is looking for a platform that provides inexpensive and speedy transactions, this is the crypto to opt for.
At the time of writing, Solana has a market cap of around $11 billion, with a circulating supply of a little more than 350 million tokens. This network notably has a staking rate of around 6%, providing long-term investors looking to lock in their tokens with some meaningful yield. Indeed, in terms of long-term tokens to hold, this is certainly one to consider.
Avalanche
Avalanche is one of the fastest platforms when it comes to decentralized applications, including play-to-earn games. It uses the PoS consensus mechanism and serves as a direct rival to Ethereum.
This is because after the Merge, Ethereum has moved to the PoS consensus mechanism due in part to the rising prominence of platforms such as Solana and Avalanche. While many wonder if other major Proof-of-Work networks will make the shift, Avalanche’s growing prevalence has certainly shifted the discussion.
Like Solana, Avalanche provides investors with meaningful yield via staking. Investors can stake AVAX tokens for a period ranging from two weeks to a year. The actual duration of this staking period depends on the circulating supply; however, there is an advantage.
In case the staking period is more than the specified time, then the stakers will get more rewards as compared to staking their tokens for a shorter period of time. Moreover, as Avalanche uses the Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) data structure, it can handle speeds of 4,500 transactions per second.
Currently, Avalanche has a market cap of around $5 billion with a circulating supply of approximately 295 million tokens.
Bottom line
Both Solana and Avalanche have excellent growth potential in their respective fields. While Avalanche has been stable since its launch, Solana has suffered multiple network outages. Additionally, security concerns with the Solana network remain an issue that has forced investors to look at competing networks for growth.
That said, overall I think Solana may be the better bet right now. This network’s surging transaction volume data provide among the strongest growth pictures in the sector. In the Altcoin world, this would be my top pick right now.