Polkadot vs. Solana: Key Differences Explained

A closer look at two of the fastest growing blockchain networks

Polkadot and Solana are among the most popular third-generation blockchain networks. They both boast outstanding scalability and efficiency without sacrificing decentralization. This article will go through multiple aspects comparing Polkadot and Solana. Hopefully, you will have a clear picture of the benefits of each chain after reading.

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The rise of the multi-chain landscape

Many may know Ethereum is currently the second largest crypto by market cap. As a pioneer blockchain, Ethereum has laid a solid groundwork for various innovations such as smart contracts and NFTs. If you want to learn everything about Ethereum, check out DappRadar’s Ultimate Guide to Ethereum.

However, Ethereum still has its limitations. For example, it’s relatively slow and can only process 30 transactions per second. Moreover, it still adopts a proof-of-work model, meaning it’s energy-intensive. 

As a result, competitors have sprung up, looking to address Ethereum’s problems and accelerate Web3’s mass adoption. Among the most competitive candidates, we have Polkadot and Solana. 

This article will take a look at the differences between the two.

What is Polkadot, and what is Solana?

Founded in 2016 and launched in May 2020, Polkadot is a decentralized network connecting multiple blockchain ecosystems. 

Polkadot aims to solve blockchain scalability and interoperability issues by creating a network of blockchains. Notably, Polkadot already has over 100 chains in its ecosystem and potentially can scale up to process up to 1 million transactions per second.

Read this article to get a comprehensive understanding of Polkadot.

Solana’s origin dates back to 2017, with its mainnet beta launched in March 2020. Solana focuses on increasing network speed and substantially reducing transaction costs as a single blockchain network. 

Furthermore, Solana empowers developers with a high-performance smart contract platform, allowing them to deliver a secure, versatile, and user-friendly dapp experience. Currently, hundreds of projects in the Solana ecosystem are already available to users, supporting various features, from decentralized finance (DeFi) to NFTs.

This article can help you gain a deeper insight into Solana.

Technical highlights

Polkadot’s network features three types of blockchains. The first one is Relay Chain, which is the main chain that processes transactions. Then comes the next type, parachains. These are application-specific chains that run on top of Relay Chain, allowing the addition of new features to Polkadot.

The last type covers bridges that enable interoperability with other blockchains, such as Ethereum.

Furthermore, Polkadot adopts a Nominated proof-of-stake (NPoS) consensus model to verify transactions. It is designed with two roles, validators and nominators. In a blockchain, a validator is someone responsible for verifying transactions.

The NPoS model allows nominators to back validators with their stake. This mechanism optimizes decentralization and security based on the original proof-of-stake model.

Solana blockchain has won the hearts of many users with its outstanding efficiency and affordability, thanks to its unique consensus mechanism. Solana realizes blockchain consensus by combining proof-of-stake (PoS) and proof-of-history (PoH) algorithms. 

Specifically speaking, the PoH model organizes all the transactions into chronological order using a timestamping process, which can speed up network transmission. Once the transactions are sorted, the system will send them to validators for verification. 

Network performance comparison

Solana and Polkadot are strong competitors to Ethereum, striving to bring a better blockchain experience to users through innovation. So, let’s compare all three of them in terms of cost and speed to understand their recent performance.