The popularity of cryptocurrencies is reaching new heights daily. This technology gained a huge number of supporters quickly, including some of the biggest names in the business world like Bill Gates and Elon Musk. As a result, many countries’ and states’ authorities decided to pass laws that would regulate their expanding crypto markets. One of them is the Georgian government.
Georgia has recently included virtual currencies, including Solana, into its money transmission laws. This legislature now defines all virtual currencies as a “digital representation of monetary value” whose transmission requires a license. So, Georgia residents can legally purchase, trade, and sell cryptos like Solana in this state as long as they hold a valid MT license.
If you’re interested in buying Solana in Georgia, read the following article. You can learn more about this popular crypto and where you can purchase it in the Peach State.
What Is Solana?
Solana is an open-source blockchain-based project engineered to facilitate the creation of decentralized applications (DApps) and smart contracts. It also supports many nonfungible token (NTF) marketplaces and decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms.
Overall, Solana is known for its scalability and efficiency. The project derives these two qualities from its unique architectural design. Namely, Solana combines two types of consensus mechanisms — proof of stake (PoS) and proof of history (PoH). This hybrid consensus mechanism allows Solana to process numerous transactions per second without any scaling solutions.
Its incredible speed also affects gas fees attached to its transactions. Its average cost per transaction goes as low as $0.00025, one of the lowest fees on the crypto market.
What Makes Solana Unique?
To understand what makes Solana different from other cryptos, you should know more about the crypto industry. So, let’s dive in.
Blockchain developers face many challenges when creating new blockchains today. However, three stand out as the most significant — decentralization, security, and scalability.
These three qualities seem to exclude one another in the context of blockchain building. For instance, decentralized blockchains cannot be particularly scalable because time discrepancies and throughput slow down the system’s transaction verification process. So, developers who want to maximize their blockchain’s speed have to sacrifice decentralization and vice versa.
Nevertheless, Solana’s creators seem to have found a way around this issue. The above-referenced hybrid consensus mechanism changes the transaction verification process within the system.
The mechanism allows for a shift in how messages are sequenced between the nodes and transaction chains are created on the network. This way, the system reduces the network’s workload and increases throughput and protocol scalability.
Solana doesn’t sacrifice the security component of its network either. Its delegated proof-of-stake (DPoS) validates transactions, distributes newly minted SOL (Solana’s token), and secures the network.
The same system allows anyone who owns SOL to participate in operating the network. SOL holders have a chance to lock, stake, delegate their token to participants to do the staking on their behalf, and take part in the project’s governance.
Who Created Solana?
Anatoly Yakovenko conceptualized Solana back in 2017 when he published a whitepaper introducing the proof-of-history consensus. He developed the idea of a single, scalable blockchain with Raj Gokal, Stephen Akridge, and Greg Fitzgerald.
Solana protocol was launched in March 2020. The team raised over $20 million in the private token sale in 2019 and an additional $1.76 million in the public token sale, after the launch, in 2020. The project is developed in Solana Labs and supported by the Geneva-based non-profit organization Solana Foundation.
Where Can I Buy Solana in Georgia?
As we’ve mentioned earlier, Georgia has a regulated crypto market. So, you can buy Solana or any other cryptocurrency completely legally within its borders — you just have to have a valid GA money transmitters license before doing so.
You can buy your first SOL coins in two ways:
- Through a crypto exchange platform
- By purchasing SOL from an individual
For your convenience, we’ll discuss both of these methods in the following paragraphs. Read them carefully to decide on the best one for you.
Buying Solana Through Crypto Exchanges
Cryptocurrency exchanges, also known as digital currency exchanges, are platforms used for purchasing, selling, and trading virtual currencies like Solana. They have two subcategories — decentralized and centralized exchanges.
Decentralized exchanges don’t store their users’ funds on the platform but use a peer-to-peer system to facilitate trading. They also don’t support fiat currencies, so you can only use them to purchase digital coins using other cryptos. Decentralized exchanges are known to be less reliable and secure.
Centralized crypto exchanges can be both online and brick-and-mortar businesses. They allow you to purchase and sell cryptos for fiat and virtual currencies. These platforms implement stricter security measures and are more popular than their decentralized counterparts.
If you’re looking to acquire SOL for fiat currencies, you’ll have to resort to the second option. Georgia boasts a wide offer of centralized crypto exchanges, including Binance, Kraken, eToro, and Coinbase.
Choosing between them can be challenging if you’ve never used a platform of this kind before. So, here’s what you have to pay attention to when picking the best centralized exchange for you:
- Georgia MT license — The first thing you should check when deciding on an exchange is whether it holds a valid GA MT license. This will help you ensure the platform is legit and trustworthy.
- SOL availability — Even though Solana is pretty popular, not all crypto exchanges support it. So, it’s important you check what cryptocurrencies the platform you’re interested in works with.
- Privacy and security — Security is one of the biggest problems exchange platforms deal with today. Make sure the exchange you’re reviewing implements strict security measures and complies with appropriate KYC procedures to keep your funds safe.
- Liquidity — Crypto exchange’s transactional speed depends on its trading volume. So, don’t forget to ensure the platform you’ve picked has a high trading volume with Solana.
- User interface — Many crypto exchanges’ interfaces have a learning curve, which is not ideal for inexperienced users. Make sure you find a well-designed and user-friendly platform to avoid issues when navigating the platform.
- Funding options — Once you’ve joined a crypto exchange, you’ll have to fund your account to purchase SOL. Learn what payment companies the platform collaborates with beforehand to see whether you can use the preferred payment method.
- Fees — Crypto exchanges support themselves by taking a commission and imposing fees on their users. Remember to check whether your platform has fees that fit your budget before creating an account.
Purchasing Solana Directly
Buying from an individual is your second option when looking to purchase Solana in Georgia. This method might seem simpler and easier than the previous one at first glance. Nevertheless, we urge you not to jump the gun. Scams are not uncommon in the crypto community. So, if you’re not sure who you’re buying SOL from, there’s no guarantee you won’t be cheated out of them.
We advise you to stick to crypto exchanges, especially if you’re new to the crypto sector. However, if you’re determined to buy Solana directly, make sure you know that the person you’re buying from is reliable.
How to Purchase SOL — Step-by-Step Guide
Those who’ve taken our advice and decided to buy SOL through a crypto exchange might need some help with the process. So, here is what you’ll have to do:
- Find a good crypto wallet — Crypto wallets are digital platforms where you can store SOL once you’ve acquired them. GA market offers a wide array of them, so make sure you research and pick the best one for your needs.
- Choose a crypto exchange — Select a crypto exchange platform that suits your needs and preferences. Don’t forget to review the features we’ve discussed in one of the previous sections.
- Create and activate your account — Visit the chosen platform’s website to open and activate your account. You can complete the registration form and verify your email and identity.
- Make a deposit — Navigate the platform to find the Payment page. Select the deposit option, choose a payment method, and input the amount you’d like to deposit. Submit the request and wait for the transaction to clear.
- Purchase SOL — Pick the right currency pair, enter the number of coins you’d like to buy, and confirm the transaction. Crypto transactions are some of the fastest on the market, so you won’t have to wait long for SOL to appear in your account.
- Send SOL to your wallet — If you’re not planning to use your SOL coins to trade, send them to your crypto wallet right away. Crypto wallets boast tight security measures, so you’ll know your funds are completely safe.
Final Thoughts
Despite being so novel, Solana is one of the most popular cryptocurrencies on the planet. It ranks in the top ten cryptos by market cap and boasts unmatched scalability and speed. Thanks to Georgian crypto-friendly laws, you can join many crypto users who’ve already invested in SOL. You have to obtain an MT license, find an exchange platform you like, open an account, and make your first purchase. Good luck!