Polygon (MATIC) has experienced a notable increase in network activity over the past few months, surpassing that of Solana (SOL). However, Solana still held a significant advantage over Polygon in terms of transaction volume. Additionally, Solana’s performance in the DeFi sector remains promising, with its Total Value Locked (TVL) reaching its highest level this year. Moreover, SOL’s price action has exceeded MATIC’s, as Solana surpassed Polygon in terms of market capitalization.
In this article, we will compare two prominent and promising blockchain platforms in the market: Polygon (MATIC) and Solana (SOL). We will examine their key features and future prospects.
What is Polygon (MATIC)?
Polygon (MATIC) is a layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum, aiming to solve the problems of high gas fees, low transaction speed, and lack of scalability.
It is a network of interconnected blockchains that run on top of Ethereum, leveraging its security and interoperability. It uses a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, where validators stake their MATIC tokens to secure the network and earn rewards.
Polygon supports various scaling techniques, such as plasma chains, zk-rollups, optimistic rollups, and sidechains.
Benefits of Polygon include fast and cheap transactions, Ethereum compatibility, and flexibility/customization for developers.
What is Solana (SOL)?
Solana (SOL) is a high-performance blockchain platform that provides fast and cheap transactions for decentralized applications.
It is a standalone blockchain that supports over 50,000 transactions per second without sacrificing decentralization or security.
Solana uses a novel consensus mechanism called proof-of-history (PoH) to order transactions chronologically without relying on a centralized authority. It also uses a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism with validators staking SOL tokens to secure the network.
Some benefits of Solana include scalability and speed, innovation and development, and a vibrant community and ecosystem.
Polygon (MATIC) Vs Solana (SOL): Comparison
Having gained a fundamental understanding of Polygon and Solana, let us proceed to compare them using several key criteria:
| Polygon | Solana | |
| Scalability | Polygon utilizes a variety of layer-2 solutions to enhance Ethereum’s scalability, each offering different degrees of scalability. | Solana achieves scalability by leveraging its own layer-1 solution, which provides exceptional scalability. |
| Speed | Polygon has the capability to handle thousands of transactions per second. | Solana can process over 50,000 transactions per second consistently, regardless of the network load. |
| Cost | Depending on the scaling technique used, Polygon has the ability to provide transactions with near-zero gas fees. | Solana can offer low gas fees for transactions regardless of the network load. |
| Security | Depending on the scaling technique used, Polygon benefits from the security of Ethereum, but also encounters the potential risks of centralization and attack vectors. | Solana relies on its own security measures but is vulnerable to network congestion and the possibility of validator collusion. |
| Compatibility | Unlike Solana, Polygon offers full compatibility with Ethereum and is capable of supporting all the existing Ethereum tools and standards. | Solana does not have compatibility with Ethereum, but it does support a range of programming languages and standards. |
| Flexibility | Developers using Polygon have the freedom to select their preferred scaling solution, consensus mechanism, governance model, and other parameters for their dApps. | Solana restricts developers from choosing their own scaling solution, consensus mechanism, governance model, and other parameters for their dApps. |
| Adoption | Polygon has gained significant adoption among dApps, particularly in the DeFi and NFT sectors, and its popularity continues to grow. As of August 2023 (estimated), Polygon boasts more than 600 dApps, 450 million transactions, and 15 million users. | Solana has experienced moderate adoption among dApps, with a particular emphasis in the gaming and streaming sectors. As of August 2023 (estimated), Solana has over 500 dApps, 35 billion transactions, and 1.5 million users, and its popularity is steadily increasing. |
| Market Cap | As of August 2023 (estimated), Polygon’s market capitalization stands at $6.4 billion, with a circulating supply of approximately 9.3 million MATIC tokens. | Solana’s market capitalization is estimated to be $10 billion, with a circulating supply of around 405.7 million SOL tokens as of August 2023. |
| Price | As of August 2023 (estimated), the price of MATIC on Polygon is approximately $0.69 per token. | In the same period, Solana’s price is estimated to be around $24.76 per SOL token. |
| All-Time High | Polygon reached an all-time high of $2.92 per MATIC in December 2021. | Solana reached an all-time high of $260.06 per SOL in November 2021. |
Is Polygon actually ahead of Solana?
According to Artemis’ data, Solana has experienced a decline in daily active addresses over the past three months. This decline has allowed Polygon to surpass Solana in terms of this metric. Additionally, MATIC has consistently attracted more users to its network compared to Solana. However, when considering the overall picture, MATIC still lags behind SOL in terms of the number of daily transactions processed by the networks.
Furthermore, Solana is gradually catching up to Polygon in terms of captured value. Artemis’ chart indicates that Solana’s fees and revenue have increased since mid-July, even surpassing Polygon’s on two occasions.
However, at the time of writing, Polygon’s fees and revenue remain slightly higher than those of SOL. Nevertheless, SOL recently achieved a significant milestone. DeFiLlama reported that SOL’s Total Value Locked (TVL) has been on the rise and is currently at its highest level since the beginning of the year.
A wider look at both blockchains
The staking ecosystems of both blockchains are worth observing. In terms of staking market cap, SOL is significantly ahead of MATIC with $9.77 billion compared to $2.4 billion. The staking ratio for MATIC is 38.91%, while SOL has a much higher ratio of 70.84%. Additionally, Solana has a larger number of staking wallets compared to Polygon.
On the other hand, when it comes to their respective NFT ecosystems, both MATIC and SOL have been performing equally well. They have similar numbers of NFT trade counts and trade volume in USD, which indicates strong competition between the two.
Bullish price action for Solana?
Initially, MATIC had a higher market cap than SOL in May. However, MATIC experienced considerable losses over the next few weeks, allowing Solana to overtake it and flip MATIC on July 6. More recently, MATIC has regained its lead in terms of market cap.
According to CoinMarketCap, SOL’s price increased by over 7% in the past week, while MATIC only increased by 1%. As of now, SOL is trading at $24.77, whereas MATIC’s value is $0.6794 on the charts.
Disclaimer: Please note that this article does not constitute investment advice. Investing in speculative and carries the risk of potential capital loss.