Coinbase, the largest crypto trading platform in the United States, has rolled out support for the Solana ecosystem. A slew of new tokens and features are now becoming available to Coinbase users.
“Over the past year, there has been an explosion of interest in web3 and decentralized applications including NFTs and decentralized finance (DeFi),” reads a Coinbase blog post. “One of the blockchain networks that has seen a major increase in use is Solana, which has since built a vibrant community of developers and users alike. The update makes it easier to keep track of cryptos from different networks without the need to manage multiple wallet apps.”
Rising interest in Solana
According to the crypto exchange, one of the main reasons for the rising interest in Solana over the past year is that investors have been looking for cheap alternatives to Ethereum. The largest altcoin has seen significant increases in its network costs.
Recently, Coinbase launched their new service called “Coinbase Pay”, which allows users to fund their crypto wallet through a web browser extension. Accepting cryptocurrencies for retailers has also been made easier with this feature.
Bigger expansion ambitions
Coinbase says the expansion into the Solana universe is just the beginning. The plan is to further integrate with Solana's ecosystem by giving its users the ability to connect to Solana-based decentralized applications (DApps) and Solana-native NFTs. It will be possible for users to store it directly in their Coinbase Wallet app.
Solana's relatively low cost and high speed are the main strengths of the network. In addition, Coinbase points out that the smart contract blockchain is one of the fastest growing in the past year.
Any Coinbase user can now automatically create a Solana wallet through their wallet extension. Also, there is now the option to use Coinbase Pay to buy SOL.
Nine cryptocurrencies now supported
After Coinbase added Solana, their total of supported cryptocurrencies has gone up to nine, including Avalanche, BNB Chain, Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Litecoin, Ripple, Stellar Lumens and Polygon. Coinbase commented:
“Many users are looking for networks that are optimized for scale and that offer low-cost transactions and fast transaction times. Solana is one of the fastest growing blockchains of the past year.”
Currently, Solana's blockchain ranks 5th in terms of total locked-in value. Currently, there is almost $7 billion. NFT data aggregator CryptoSlam has ranked Solana as the second-highest blockchain for secondary sales volume last month, with $156.28 (£118) million; Solana has made some significant steps in this regard in the past year.