Solana

In 2017, a Qualcomm engineer named Anatoly Yakovenko conceived of Solana as a speedy alternative to Ethereum. Since then, the network has emerged as one of crypto's most-used blockchains.

After launching in 2020, Solana went on to become a hot spot for memecoin launches, including those by Iggy Azalea, Caitlyn Jenner, and—most famously—U.S. President Donald Trump. Its high throughput has also attracted payments giants, such as Visa, Stripe, and PayPal, to integrate the network for its stablecoin settlement. Several spot Solana exchange-traded funds hit U.S. markets in 2025. Solana's other cofounders are Raj Gokal, Greg Fitzgerald, and Stephen Akridge.