Solana is a high-performance public blockchain founded in late 2017 by former engineers from Qualcomm, Intel, and Dropbox. It aims to build an internet-scale decentralized network capable of supporting global adoption.
One of Solana's most notable features is its extremely high throughput, currently achieving over 50,000 transactions per second (TPS). The ecosystem includes a variety of projects such as Serum, Tether, USDC, Dfuse, Kin, Torus, Chainlink, Terra, Stardust, Arweave, Pocket, and Audius.
Within Solana, you’ll find established products like Tether, USDC, Chainlink, and Terra that are already mature in other ecosystems, as well as native Solana projects such as Serum, Raydium, and Oxygen.
The Solana ecosystem, as recently illustrated in an official map, shows a considerable number of projects—though many are still focused on infrastructure. Applications are often external mature products, while native Solana-built applications are fewer in number. While infrastructure is still developing, it already adequately supports the ecosystem's growth.
Recently, Solana has gained significant momentum with continuous developments and growing interest. This article highlights some of the native projects within the Solana ecosystem. Compared to external mature applications, native projects in a new ecosystem often present more opportunities—though they also come with higher risks.
What Makes Solana Stand Out?
Solana stands out for its scalability and low-cost transactions, making it an attractive platform for developers and users. Its unique Proof of History (PoH) consensus mechanism allows the network to process transactions rapidly and efficiently.
These technical advantages have drawn a wide array of decentralized applications (dApps), financial protocols, and infrastructure projects to build on Solana.
Native Projects on Solana
Serum: The Core DeFi Exchange
Serum is a decentralized exchange (DEX) and one of the cornerstone projects of the Solana ecosystem. It was launched by Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the founder of FTX exchange, who brings considerable influence and visibility to the project.
Built on Solana, Serum supports both order book and automated market maker (AMM) models, combining the benefits of both systems. Future plans include introducing margin and futures trading.
According to official data, Serum recorded a trading volume of $200 million between April 2 and April 14, with average daily volume around $16 million—placing it among the top 15 DEXs on Ethereum at that time.
Serum has also inspired a range of complementary protocols and products, many of which are closely tied to SBF and his affiliated projects.
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Bonfida: The Complete Serum Interface
Bonfida serves as the "flagship front-end" for Serum, significantly improving the user experience for traders on the DEX. In addition to basic trading, it offers a Serum API, a strategy platform, and detailed data analytics.
Bonfida was the first platform to provide users with on-chain data analysis for Serum. It displays trading volumes, token metrics, and other key statistics. For instance, the platform reported a 7-day trading volume of $150 million and a daily volume exceeding $20 million.
The strategy platform currently offers four to five pre-configured strategies. Users can deposit funds, and the platform automatically executes these strategies. Although the current total value locked is relatively low, there are plans to introduce strategies from key opinion leaders (KOLs) and allow users to create their own.
Bonfida has also launched Solible, an NFT marketplace on Solana, though it is still in early stages and has yet to distinguish itself from competitors.
Raydium: On-Chain Liquidity Provider
Raydium is an AMM that provides on-chain liquidity to Serum's central order book. This means that Raydium's users and liquidity pools can access the entire order flow and liquidity of the Serum ecosystem, and vice versa.
The platform has performed well in terms of pool depth and trading volume, partly due to liquidity mining incentives. Future developments include launching an Initial DEX Offering (IDO) platform and integrating with Serum’s new lending protocols to enable margin trading.
Raydium continues to explore new liquidity models and improve capital efficiency using oracle solutions.
Maps.me: DeFi Integration for Mass Adoption
Maps.me is a popular offline maps application with over 140 million users and more than 50 million downloads on Google Play. The app offers various travel-related services, such as hotel and restaurant bookings.
The team recently raised $50 million in funding and is developing a multi-chain wallet with built-in DeFi capabilities. One of the supported assets is USDC on Solana, enabling instant payments and low fees—especially useful for travelers in regions with underdeveloped payment infrastructure.
Maps.me plans to integrate DeFi yield-earning features directly into its wallet, offering passive income opportunities to its massive user base without requiring them to understand underlying technical details.
Oxygen Protocol: Decentralized Prime Brokerage
Oxygen is a non-custodial, decentralized prime brokerage protocol. It allows users to generate liquidity, earn yield, borrow assets, and obtain leverage on their portfolios.
Initially focused on lending, Oxygen aims to expand into over-the-counter (OTC) trading and structured products. Developers will be able to create customized structured products for themselves and their users.
The protocol relies on Serum for price data, order execution, and risk management. Thanks to DeFi’s composability, various participants within the Serum ecosystem can integrate and extend Oxygen’s functionality.
In its early stages, Oxygen is being integrated with Maps.me, giving it access to a large user base. These users will earn yield through their Maps.me wallets without even realizing they are using DeFi products.
Currently, Oxygen is available only on iOS, with basic features like deposits, transfers, and trading.
Solstarter: The First IDO Platform on Solana
Solstarter is Solana’s first Initial DEX Offering (IDO) platform, designed to help new projects raise capital. Although it hasn’t officially launched yet, it has generated considerable buzz on social media.
The platform is expected to use a tiered system based on the amount of native tokens held, giving larger holders greater allocation in IDOs—a common model in the space.
Orca: User-Friendly AMM and Aggregator
Orca is one of the first 12 projects funded by the Solana Foundation. It is an automated market maker (AMM) and liquidity aggregator focused on providing a simple, human-friendly trading experience.
The platform includes several user-centric features. For example, when a user enters a trade, Orca checks whether the price is within 1% of the market rate on CoinGecko and whether slippage is within the user’s set limit (default is 1%). If not, the system displays a warning.
Orca also offers a token panel that displays all token balances and updates them in real time. The team has not yet issued a native token.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is Solana?
Solana is a high-performance blockchain supporting smart contracts and decentralized applications. It is known for high throughput and low transaction costs, making it suitable for scalable dApps and DeFi protocols.
What is the role of Serum in the Solana ecosystem?
Serum is a central decentralized exchange that provides critical liquidity and trading infrastructure. Its order book is shared across multiple applications, enhancing liquidity and efficiency for the entire ecosystem.
How can I participate in Solana ecosystem projects?
You can interact with dApps like Serum, Raydium, and Orca using a Solana-compatible wallet. Some platforms also offer yield farming, liquidity provision, and token sales.
What are the risks of using new Solana projects?
As with any new technology, risks include smart contract vulnerabilities, regulatory uncertainty, and market volatility. Always do your own research and only invest what you can afford to lose.
Can I use Maps.me for DeFi?
Yes, Maps.me is integrating a multi-chain wallet that will allow users to earn yield on assets like USDC. The goal is to make DeFi accessible without technical complexity.
What makes Solana different from Ethereum?
Solana offers higher throughput and lower fees than Ethereum, though Ethereum has a larger ecosystem and more established infrastructure. Both have unique strengths and trade-offs.
Conclusion
The Solana ecosystem is still young, with fewer native applications than more established blockchains. However, its technical advantages and growing developer interest are driving rapid expansion.
Recent funding rounds and new project announcements indicate strong momentum. As the ecosystem matures, we can expect more innovative native applications to emerge.
A vibrant and diverse blockchain ecosystem benefits the entire industry, offering users more choices and encouraging healthy competition. Solana is well-positioned to play a significant role in the future of decentralized technology.