5 Promising Solana Blockchain Projects to Watch

Few Blockchain ecosystems have grown as fast as Solana. However, it officially launched its mainnet in March 2022, and Solana’s energy-friendly and high-throughput Blockchain have become host to hundreds of exciting projects in the crypto space. In contrast, its native cryptocurrency token SOL has emerged to rank 9th overall in the market cap. 

The success of Solana is due to its fast transaction speeds and low costs, making it a popular choice for hundreds of Blockchain developers. In just under two years, it has attracted a wealth of developer talent that has contributed to the growth of more than 350 projects, ranging from DeFi to play-to-earn games, social currency, and Web3. Here are a few of the most exciting projects to watch as the year progresses. 

Star Atlas

A Blockchain-based multiplayer exploration game, Star Atlas aims to build an open economy within its metaverse that will enable its players to earn ATLAS tokens simply from playing – and succeeding – in the game. 

The game is set far in the future, in the year 2620, when control of the known universe is split between three factions – humans, androids, and aliens – each of whom is battling for control of its metaverse. The game is still in its early stages of development, but some parts of its metaverse have already been opened for exploration as it undergoes a staged release. 

Star Atlas claims it’s home to a “universe of opportunities” thanks to its dual economy, which uses ATLAS tokens as its main currency and POLIS tokens for governance. Players get to complete challenges and earn rewards in both ATLAS and NFTs. 

GARI Network

The GARI Network creates Chingari, one of the most popular social media apps in India. Chingari is a TikTok-style short video sharing app and probably the biggest social media platform to date to launch its official cryptocurrency. Chingari created GARI to facilitate a massive digital economy. Users will earn GARI tokens for creating and sharing content that goes viral and to tip other users if they enjoy their videos. Chingari also wants to enable e-commerce, giving influencers a way to sell NFTs and physical merchandise through its platform. 

The potential of GARI is best exemplified by its incredible growth. Despite launching just six months ago, GARI has already become the second most widely held cryptocurrency token on the Solana Blockchain, according to GenX Analytics. What’s more, it has only just begun. The 238,000 GARI token holders represent just a fraction of Chingari’s 32 million daily active user base. If Chingari succeeds in getting a good majority of those users to adopt GARI, who knows where it may end up? 

Serum Dex

The biggest decentralized exchange on Solana in terms of total value locked, at $1.028 million, Serum Dex is popular for its wide range of trading options and support for numerous tokens, as well as its cheap, fast, and permissionless nature. 

Serm Dex offers a decentralized orderbook that gives users a wide range of prices and order sizes to play with, meaning they have more control over their trades. It also supports cross-chain trading, giving more advanced traders the ability to arbitrage. 

Audius

A Blockchain-enabled music streaming platform that gives creators full control over the content they produce, it’s no surprise to see Audius is gaining popularity. When artists upload content to the service, they can produce immutable records fully secured by a decentralized network of nodes. They can then charge a fee for network users to download and listen to their content.

The project originally launched on the Ethereum Blockchain before migrating to Solana, a decision it said was taken to serve its user base better. It now boasts over one million listeners each month, and its native AUDIUS token is now the 5th most widely held on the Solana Blockchain.

Solice

Solice is an open-world virtual reality metaverse built on Solana that combines crypto, social and gaming elements. Within this immersive 3D virtual world, users can build and monetize miniature games, complete quests and clear dungeons in return for crypto rewards, then sell the assets they earn through its integrated marketplace. 

It’s a true play-to-earn metaverse experience that allows anyone to participate. Unlike other platforms, Solace has a custom SDK for users to create their own NFTs that can be used in the game.