Wondering how two of the fastest and cheapest to use layer 1 blockchains stack up against each other? In this article I cover how Fantom stacks up against Solana. While both a very high performing networks that offer low transaction costs and very high transaction speeds they both have their strengths and weaknesses.

What is Solana?

Solana is a blockchain technology that is designed to scale and support massive amounts of data. The Solana team is working to create a public, distributed ledger that can process up to 10,000 transactions per second (tps). This is impressive, considering that Ethereum can currently process only 15 tps (pre merge). Solana uses proof of stake (POS) as their consensus mechanism which allows miners to use existing coins to validate transactions and mints new ones. This is a much better system to use compared to what Ethereum uses which is proof of work (POW). This allows Solana to be much more scalable than Ethereum.

This means that while it’s a decentralized network, there is also a centralized authority that manages the data. Currently, this authority is managed by the Solana team. This is done to ensure that the network runs smoothly until it is large enough to be self-sustaining.

One of Solanas strongest sector is NFTs. Over the course of the last year or two Solanas NFT ecosystem has exploded showing huge amounts of volume and also building a super tight knit and strong community. At points throughout 2021 Solanas NFT ecosystem was doing more volume than Ethereums own NFT space.

You can view a more in depth break down of Solana here.

What is Fantom?

Fantom is a decentralized and distributed computing network that promises to be faster, cheaper, and more secure than traditional cloud computing. Fantom wants to change the way that we think of cloud computing. The FTM is a utility token that is used to incentivize users to share their computer power and become “nodes” on the network. Fantom claims that this network is 10,000 times more efficient than Ethereum and 10,000 times cheaper than AWS. The team behind Fantom has already built a network that demonstrates this speed and efficiency.

Fantom offers transaction costs as low as $0.01 which makes it one of the cheapest layer 1 blockchains in crypto to use, match this with the fast transactions speeds of 10,000 transactions per second Fantom created the perfect environment for a thriving DeFi ecosystem.

In 2022 Fantom experiences a huge amount of volume bringin ina whopping $8 billion TVL (Total Value Locked) placing Fanton in the top five biggest layer 1 networks by TVL. This was in part thanks to on of the more known developers building on Fantom Andre Cronj who built multiple protocols on Fantom such as Yearn Finance.

Compare: Solana vs Fantom

Both Fantom and Solana have their strengths and weaknesses. While Solana may have a thriving NFT ecosystem, Fantom has a thriving DeFi ecosystem. Both blockchains boast similar transactions speeds and similar fees. This gives us some what of an idea on which chain you should be using and investing in, it all depends what you want to use it for. Want to trade NFTs and participate in a community maybe go with Solana, but want to invest in extensive DeFi protocols then maybe go with Fantom.

Looking at Fantom vs Solana in purely a “how much can I make if they reach ATH high again” angle, Solana is a 20x back to its all time high and Fantom is a 15x back to all time high.

Transaction Speeds

Both Solana and Fantom boast impressive transaction speeds in comparison to other layer 1 networks available. With Solana boasting upwards of 10,000 TPS while currently running around 2,000 TPS versus Fantom boasting also upwards of 10,000 TPS and currently running 10 TPS we can see a clear difference in the current numbers.

Now you may be thinking, well 10 TPS doesn’t sound very fast but in comparison to a lot of other layer 1’s currently available this is actually a pretty good speed.

I think we can see a clear winner here when it comes to transaction speeds and that is Solana.

Reliability

No one wants to use a network that is unreliable and no one wants to store money on a network that may be down when they need it.

This has been the bane for Solana for months as they experienced downtimes and outages especially during hyped NFT mints. However, the Solana team rolled out an update in the recent months that has seemed to have fixed this as there has not been a downtime for the past few months. Considering that Solana is seeing all time high traffic and use this is a great sign.

Fantom on the other hand is still experiencing outages even just in the past couple of downs with validators going down and outages being reported across the board. The Fantom team was very fast to respond to this and get things back up and running which shows great team work.

Which is a better investment?

So far, it looks like Solana is the better investment. However, we need to look at the potential for growth and risk for each coin. Investors like to see a coin that is growing in value and has lots of room for potential in the future. Fantom may be cheaper, but it is also a newer project that could potentially have more growing to do. Solana has been around longer and has already established itself as a real contender in the crypto world.

If you are interested in bridging some tokens over from Solana to FTM check out our guide here.

Final Words

So far, it seems that Solana is the better investment between the two. It is faster, more reliable and more established in the crypto world, and has a higher market cap. The only thing that Fantom has going for it is that it is cheaper and possibly has more room for growth. Investors should keep a close eye on both of these coins. Both are fairly new projects and could make big gains if they are successful. However, only time will tell which coin is the better investment.

I have written a handful of articles and comparison on Solana which can be viewed at the below links.
Polkadot Vs Solana
Polygon Crypto Vs Solana
A fundamental breakdown of Solana
Fantom vs Polygon