The Solana network was launched in 2020, but its token is already among the top 10 cryptocurrencies in the world. If you’re one of many people looking to buy Solana in Maine, your search ends here.
This article will tell you all you need to know about Solana, including its basic characteristics, history, purpose, and, of course, where and how to buy it. We’ll also reveal a comprehensive guide for choosing the best crypto exchange for a safe and effective purchase.
What Is Solana (SOL)?
Solana is a cryptocurrency that works on a blockchain network. In addition to decentralized finance, it also offers a platform for developing decentralized apps (DApps). It stands out from other more well-established cryptocurrencies for its ability to solve scalability issues.
One of Solana’s most unique features is the hybrid consensus mechanism it uses. In addition to the existing proof of stake (PoS) mechanism, Solana introduced proof of history (PoH). Thanks to PoH, Solana can record and put a time stamp on network transactions as they happen. In effect, this greatly improves the network’s speed.
To illustrate this fact, we can compare Solana’s speed to the speed of other popular financial networks. For instance, on average, Bitcoin can process 4.6 transactions per second, and Visa currently has a limit of 1,700 TPS. In contrast, Solana’s processing power is incomparably larger — a whopping 50,000 TPS.
Naturally, higher processing speed also means lower fees. Therefore, Solana can charge less than $0.01 for its transactions, much less than other similar networks.
Solana Token
To put things into perspective, we should compare Solana to another long-standing and well-known crypto network — Ethereum. Namely, these two networks function similarly to each other because both support decentralized apps and have their own tokens.
On the flip side, although Ethereum has been trying to solve its scalability problem, it still remains an issue for this network. This is where Solana comes in — as a consequence of its use of the PoH mechanism and its speed, it boasts much greater scalability, putting an end to seemingly insurmountable trouble.
In addition to that, like Ethereum, Solana also boasts an unlimited supply of tokens. The current count is around 330 million, around 180 million less than the total supply available at the moment. This means that, unlike Bitcoin, the SOL token will be available as long as people are interested in buying it.
Solana Founders
We can trace the first mention of Solana back to 2017, when Anatoly Yakovenko, its founder, wrote and released the first Solana whitepaper. Yakovenko came up with the idea of proof-of-history after working for two notable software and technology companies — Qualcomm and Dropbox.
Two of his former co-workers joined him after he made his innovative idea known to the public. In 2020, together with Greg Fitzgerald and Stephen Akridge, who had also worked for Qualcomm in the past, Yakovenko launched Solana Labs, thus marking the beginning of a new era for the crypto world.
Where Can I Buy Solana in Maine?
Like most US states, Maine doesn’t have a regulated crypto market yet. However, no laws prevent its residents from buying and owning Solana and other cryptocurrencies. As a result, people have many viable options to buy Solana in the Pine Tree State.
First, we should mention the centralized and decentralized exchanges, both with unique advantages and disadvantages. For instance, decentralized crypto exchanges reflect the essence of the crypto world as they allow you to buy and trade cryptocurrency while maintaining complete anonymity.
However, precisely because they are decentralized, these exchanges are not regulated and can’t provide proper security for your funds. On the flip side, centralized exchanges are licensed and secure, enabling the use of fiat currency and traditional payment methods, unlike their decentralized counterparts.
Alternatively, you can skip the exchanges altogether and buy Solana directly from another person. However, as you can assume, there is no guarantee whatsoever for this sort of transaction, so you should avoid making it unless you have complete confidence in the person in question.
How to Choose a Centralized Crypto Exchange
Maine residents have a lot of options for buying Solana. Many popular centralized exchanges operate in this state, including Crypto.com, eToro, Coinbase, and Binance, to name a few. However, to make sure a platform fulfills all your needs and preferences, you should check it against the following criteria:
- SOL availability — Naturally, the most important factor to consider when choosing an exchange is whether it offers Solana. You can check this if you scour the website’s cryptocurrency list.
- Reputation — One of the best ways to make sure a platform is a viable option is to learn about its reputation. You can do this if you check customer reviews and experiences on notable forums.
- Security — Since you’ll be spending money and investing in a potentially valuable asset, you’ll want the exchange facilitating this to be as secure as possible. It should have a valid operating license and use top-grade security measures to protect your information and money.
- Catering to Maine customers — The overwhelming majority of crypto exchanges present in the US also cater to buyers from Maine. However, there may always be exceptions.
- Range of banking options — While these platforms do allow you to use traditional payment methods to buy SOL, the options they enable may be limited. Therefore, you should make sure the site accepts a payment method you can use.
- Trading volume — The higher the trading volume of an exchange, the greater the speed it will be able to support. To maximize the user experience, you should look for platforms with higher liquidity.
- Fees — To support themselves and keep offering services, crypto exchanges charge small fees for every transaction. These amounts can differ depending on the chosen platform, so pick one that charges the least.
How to Buy SOL — Step-By-Step Guide for Any Crypto Exchange
Most crypto exchanges you can find have the same mode of operation. This section will outline the steps you need to take to buy Solana on any exchange successfully:
- Create a crypto wallet — Crypto wallets are among the safest ways to preserve your SOL tokens. Pick a wallet you would like to use and create an account with it to create a place where you can transfer your coins.
- Pick an exchange and create an account — Once you’ve found your preferred exchange, you can go to its website and sign up by providing the required personal and contact information.
- Top up your account — To be able to buy Solana on an exchange, you need to have money in your account balance. Therefore, decide how much you would like to spend and deposit that amount using the preferred payment method.
- Buy SOL — Once your deposit has gone through and the money appears in your account balance, you are free to spend it on Solana tokens.
- Transfer SOL to your crypto wallet — Even though most exchange platforms allow you to keep your tokens on them, we recommend transferring them to your crypto wallet to ensure maximum security.
Final Thoughts
Solana may be one of the most recently created cryptocurrencies, but it has marked such a success that it only keeps rising in popularity. With its innovative consensus mechanism and the problems it solves, it is reasonable to expect that it will only continue to advance in rank.
If you feel the same way and would like to invest in this cryptocurrency, now you know how you can buy it in Maine. As we’ve shown, the process is very straightforward and fast — you only need to choose a platform that will fulfill your needs.
