Solana has long been considered one of the best alternatives to Ethereum’s market dominance. It improves on Ethereum’s scalability issues and provides a platform that is fast, cheap and secure. But Aptos, a new blockchain, is now threatening Solana’s place. As an investor, which one should you choose? How are they different?
What is Aptos Crypto?
Aptos is a new Layer-1 blockchain built to bring Web3 to the masses. It is designed from the ground up to make developing on a blockchain easy and seamless.
The main issues the project seeks to address are that blockchains suffer frequent outages, have high costs, low limits and many security concerns. It solves this problem through a novel design that focuses on safety, scalability, upgradeability and reliability.
Read more: How Aptos Works
The platform employs a unique programming language called Move. It is a Rust-based language launched by Diem, which was Meta (Facebook)’s attempt at creating a blockchain platform. It is focused on smart contract programming.
What is Solana Crypto?
In March 2020, the Solana blockchain was launched. It incorporates technology presented by Anatoly Yakovenko in his 2017 whitepaper for the project.
On a blockchain, transactions typically don’t account for time. The fact that older transactions are added to blocks after new ones can result in a number of problems during validation. To resolve this issue, Solana employs a special consensus mechanism known as Proof of History.
As an additional validation metric, PoH synchronises the time on a blockchain. Compared to earlier blockchains, it also dramatically speeds up transactions. This improves the blockchain’s effectiveness and scalability. Meanwhile, network security is handled through proof of stake. This dual consensus mechanism has been key to Solana’s success in recent years.
Difference Between Aptos Vs Solana
| Features | Aptos | Solana |
| Launch Date | 12th October 2022 | 16th March 2020 |
| Primary Objective | Safety, scalability, reliability and upgradeability in web3 infrastructure | Creating a fast, cost-effective and secure platform for dApp development |
| Consensus mechanism | Proof of Stake | Combination of Proof of Stake and Proof of History |
| Transaction Speed | 150,000 TPS | 65,000 TPS |
| Market Capitalisation | $463,400,000 | $4,160,250,000 |
Solana Vs Aptos: Pros and Cons
Solana
| Pros | Cons |
| Highly efficient | Low decentralisation |
| Large market share | Network outages |
Pros of Solana
- Efficiency – Solana has a high transaction speed of over 65,000 TPS combined with a low cost of just $0.00025. This makes the network highly efficient and accessible for many users at a time.
- Market Share – Solana is one of the most popular L1 blockchains for smart contracts and dApps, apart from Ethereum. Its market cap is also 10 times higher than Aptos.
Cons of Solana
- Network Outages – Solana has experienced several outages in 2022, with 5 major and many smaller ones affecting network uptime. This is a huge setback for investors and users who are unable to utilise the network for this duration.
- Low Decentralisation – Solana’s validation is conducted by just 1,000 validators. While anyone can become a validator on the network, it is a very expensive process. This is because the computing power necessary is costly to acquire and maintain.
Aptos
| Pros | Cons |
| High speed | Project’s applications are yet to be tested |
| Competent core team |
Pros of Aptos
- Speed – Aptos claims to have a transaction speed of over 150,000 per second. This is much faster than other blockchains on the market. The network achieves this through the parallel execution of transactions.
- Project Team – The team behind Aptos hails from Facebook’s Diem project, which also uses the same programming language and systems. A qualified team with expertise in the domain is essential for the success of a blockchain project.
Cons of Aptos
- Unproven Project – Aptos is brand new and is yet to establish itself in the market. Until the project is tested at scale, it is difficult to tell if it can live up to its promise.
Conclusion
Both Solana and Aptos have promising features that will be essential to the growth and acceptance of blockchains in the future. However, Aptos is a new blockchain launched just a few months ago. It is unclear if it can live up to all the promises it has made. But the team behind it is full of seasoned veterans qualified to take this project to new heights.
If you are relatively risk-averse, Solana may be a better investment for you. But those that enjoy looking for new projects that can soar high may be interested in Aptos.
You can now buy Solana and Aptos on ZebPay. Experience the power of crypto trading on ZebPay.
