Solving Solana’s Congestion Issues, Proof Of Work Mining On Solana & More

Welcome back!

This is J264G and this week I’ve got these titbits for you:

• Network Usability: Anza shares update on solving congestion issues.

• Mining Crypto: Ore — Solana’s first PoW token — goes live. 

• Crypto Security: Explore SPL Card, a new hardware wallet for Solana.

Solana has been suffering from congestion issues, which in turn have led to a plethora of failed transactions.

Mainly, this is due to technical constraints, which have been exacerbated by a sharp rise in network usage.

The bad news? It will take some time to get this sorted. 

The good news? This will get sorted — just like all issues in the past.

For now, we just need to hang tight a little longer — so we might as well kick off this week's newsletter!

Click on any underlined heading/hyperlink to learn more.

Spotlight

DeFi Delight

DeFi on Solana has reached escape velocity. 

Yet, traders on Solana often struggle with fragmented liquidity, insufficient trading pairs, and a lack of actionable data. 

This is where Ranger Finance comes into play. 

Ranger Finance is a new perpetual futures aggregator on Solana, specifically designed to address these issues. 

Here’s how: 

• Fragmented liquidity

On-chain liquidity on Solana will always remain fragmented.

Mainly, this is because multiple perpetual futures DEXs are present on the network — each with their own set of liquidity pools and market makers — which causes liquidity to be spread thin. 

As a result, traders may find it difficult to execute large orders without significantly impacting the market price.

While perpetual futures DEXs traditionally combine central limit order books (CLOBs) and automated market makers (AMMs), Ranger Finance leverages an aggregator model to pull together liquidity and trading pairs from various DEXs, ultimately solving the problem of fragmented liquidity — effectively.

Consequently, users can expect better prices, low fees, and a single platform to manage all their trades.

Also, due to Solana’s high TPS, Ranger Finance can operate complex operations at a much faster pace compared to dApps on other L1s/L2s. This speed ensures that traders can capitalise on market movements in real-time — all of which will get even better with v1.18 and Firedancer.

• Insufficient trading pairs

When it comes to perpetual futures, there’s currently no unified platform that offers a wide variety of trading pairs.

The root of this issue lies in the fragmented nature of the DeFi ecosystem, where individual platforms may only support a subset of available tokens, driven by factors such as user demand, technical constraints, and a lack of liquidity.

By aggregating liquidity and trading pairs across multiple DEXs on one unified platform, Ranger Finance tackles the issue head-on — no need to navigate multiple platforms any more!

Also, Ranger Finance's smart order routing system ensures that trades are executed at the best available prices, minimising slippage — even for less common trading pairs.

• Lack of actionable data

Platforms such as Coinglass provide comprehensive data for CEXs such as funding rates, open interest, and price aggregation — all of which are crucial for informed trading decisions.

However, perpetual futures DEXs on Solana often lack this level of detailed information, which can lead to less informed trading strategies, as well as missed real-time opportunities.

Ranger Finance, however, collates data from Solana perpetual futures DEXs such as Drift and Zeta. This aggregation includes funding rates, open interest, volume, and more — giving on-chain traders both a convenient and effective edge. 

Basically, we’ll offer everything a CEX offers, and more — thus making Solana the home for on-chain derivatives!

Because at the end of the day: not your keys, not your crypto.

Numbers Of The Week

News Bites

Network Usability: As mentioned above, Solana's network congestion is causing several network usability issues. In this context, the Anza team highlighted its work and explained how it can help improve the current situation.

Jupiter DCA: Dollar cost averaging (DCA) helps in smoothing out the purchase price over time, potentially lowering the average cost per token and mitigating the risks associated with market timing. Here's an ELI5 explanation on how Jupiter can help you achieve just that.

Mining Crypto: We all know concepts such as proof of work (PoW) and mining from Bitcoin. But did you know that you can mine crypto on Solana as well? Don't believe me, just check out Ore and learn more about Solana's newest store of value.

Crypto Security: A new hardware wallet for Solana has entered the chat: SPL Card V2. The features of the non-custodial wallet are powered by token extensions, which you can check out here. 

NFT Standards: Mad Lads, Tensorians, and many more: Solana is the home of NFTs. Apart from that, Solana developers continue to push the envelope to discover new and innovative ways to leverage NFTs. Here's an overview of the latest NFT standards on Solana.

Caught In 4K

Weekly Take

Keks & Giggles

And that's a wrap!

If you'd like to reach me, respond to this newsletter or reach out to me on 𝕏.

Talk soon!

J264G

_{DISCLAIMER
None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research. Lastly, please be advised that we discuss products and services from our partners from which our team members may hold tokens/equity.}