Solana Blockchain - Crypto Academy / S4W4 - Homework post for pelon53

Explain in detail the PoH of Solana

Solana is an open-source blockchain network and is also of the third generation. It was founded in 2018 by Anatoly Yakovenko but its whitepaper was published in 2017. Before its mainnet was introduced in March 2020, Solana was running on a testnet. The network is run by the Solana foundation in Geneva.

Solana runs on a proof of stake (PoS) mechanism. It has carried out 8 core innovations that have enhanced the security and scalability of some networks like Bitcoin and Ethereum. The core innovations are;

• Proof of history protocol
• Turbine
• Tower BFT which is an enhanced version of PBFT
• Cloud break
• Achievers
• Pipeline
• Golf stream
• Sea level

These innovations have their purpose to the network. Solana is considered to be the fastest programmable blockchain with the ability to execute over 50,000 transactions in a second. The developers on the platforms say as the platform develops, its transaction speed could get to 700,000. This makes it way better the Ethereum blockchain which can only process about 15 to 45 transactions per second.

As stated earlier, the blockchain network executes transactions in a very quick and secured way which gives it a very good growth potential. Their platform has about 368 projects listed some of which are DApps, DeFi, DEX, NFT, etc.

Proof of History

PoH is the consensus mechanism that is being used by the Solana blockchain network. The blockchain network makes use of both the PoH and Tower BFT to operate. It is able to execute over 50,000TPS with about 200 distributed nodes due to the PoH consensus algorithm. The Proof of History algorithm helps to enhance scalability by reducing the network’ nodes load for quicker transactions.

There has been a problem with timestamps not being recorded in the blockchain networks like Ethereum and Bitcoin due to the fact that the networks do not keep records of previous events that have happened. The PoH mechanism has corrected this problem by encoding cryptographically generated time in the network that does not rely on the time of the computer itself. This cryptographical time can be used to show events of the past or present that happened on the blockchain network.

Unlike PoW where validators solve complex mathematical algorithms, PoH validators only solve functions called Verifiable Delay Functions (VDF). The functions are very light to the extent that they can be solved with only one CPU core and also with about the same procedure which makes it comparatively easier to PoW.

Verifiable Delay Functions are what the PoH uses to hash transactions and events that happen on the blockchain each with their timestamps. The VFD has helped corrected the time problem which in turn enhances the rate at which transactions are processed. This makes Solana the most scalable network. The hashes of the network are produced through the PoH protocol. The hashes are validated by the PoH protocol and are also verified through voting by witnesses on the network. The Tower BFT protocol is the mechanism they use for voting.

Describe at least 2 use cases of Solana

The Solana network has many projects built on it, I will choose to go with Cyclos and Orca.

• ORCA

The Orca project is built on the Solana Blockchain. It is a Decentralized Exchange platform that charges low fees and it has a very great user-friendly interface. You will need to connect to a wallet to use the Orca platform. It is also listed in other categories such as DeFi, DAO, AMM, and Yield farming as well.

The Orca platform allows for the swapping of cryptocurrencies. It has about 35 different cryptocurrencies listed on it for swapping.

It also allows users to stake on their platform and join their liquidity pool. To stake on the platform, first connect a compatible wallet. By clicking on Connect wallet

From the list, choose your preferred choice to connect.

After that click on stake at the top menu and you will be taken to the staking page.

Here, you can choose how much orca you want to deposit confirm the transaction and start earning your rewards.

The staking is not only restricted to Orca, you can stake other tokens like the collectibles as time goes on. Each of the staking pool gives rewards over a certain time period. The staking rewards are proportional to the value staked, the more you stake the more you earn.

To get more information on how to stake on the platform here is a youtube video.

The native token of the Orca platform is the Orca token. The token is generated using smart contracts from the Solana blockchain which gives it its good speed and high scalability during transactions.

• Cyclos

Cyclos provides concentrated liquidity on the Solana network. Cyclos is a DEX and also a swapping platform with the AMM (automated Market Makers) mechanism and also a decentralized finance platform.

Their swapping feature enables users to exchange one token for another.

The Cyclos platform has a market with a lot of listed coins just like centralized exchanges with order books but it operates with a decentralized exchange mechanism. The platform also has a pool where users can stake and earn.

The native token of the platform is CYS, it operates with smart contracts on the Solana network.

SOLA TOKEN

The Sola token is operated on the Solana blockchain network as a DeFi. It contains functions of both decentralized exchange and centralized exchange. It has the Automated Market Makers (AMM) mechanism and also gives users the chance to a liquidity pool.

The token works with Serum, it is also a Decentralized exchange on the Solana network. Serum has an order book feature that has been added to the Sola token exchange platform. The platform has listed crypto coins that are also being traded with USDT and USDC.

The token itself is the native token of the Solana. It is the token that is used to govern the platform, users with the token can partake in decision making on the solatoken.net platform.

Currently, there are about 1,893 token holders of the Sola token. The token can only be traded on the decentralization exchange platform of the Solatoken. The token is not listed on most exchange platforms yet and it is only paired with USDC as SOLA/USDC for trading.

According to coingecko, the SOLA token has a current price of $0.051034 and it is ranked 1911th with a market cap of $1,385,724. It also has a circulating supply of 27,153,077, a total supply of 27,153,077, and a maximum supply of 27,153,077, this means their total coins are currently in circulation. In terms of trading, the token has a 24-hour trading volume of $69,606.

When did Solana Blockchain see its operations disrupted? Why?

There was a strong interruption on the Solana blockchain that could stop the operations of the network for about a day. This incident occurred on 14 September, subsequently, every project that utilizes smart contracts from the Solana network also had the same problem from the shut down of the main network.

The Solana team released information regarding this incident and it was that the disruption occurred because of a very large number of transactions that happened at the same time on the network. This caused a disruption in the network. It was suspected that this large number of transactions which were about 400,000 in a second was initiated by bots.

The Solana network could not handle 400,000 transactions currently it can only handle about 65,000 transactions in a second. The server resources of the blockchain could not process such transactions and this caused a service denial on the blockchain network.

Anatoly Yakovenko the founder of the platform explained that one of the main projects of the Solana platform called Raydium (RAY) is the bot that caused the transaction flood.

To partake in the issuance of the Grape Protocol, a lot of people tried to utilize bots to execute transactions. This rather caused an overload of transactions on the network and validators could not process them. This was why the Solana blockchain network went down for about 17 hours on 14th September.

To resolve this, it was agreed among the validators to restart the network and bring it back to normal. They did their best to restart it and after a few hours, they were able to get the blockchain to run smoothly again.

Check the last block generated in Solana and make an approximate calculation of how many blocks per second have been generated in Solana, taking into account from the initial block to the current block? Explain your answer and show a screenshot.

To access the blocks generated on the Solana network, you will need to visit the Solana Explorer where the activities of the Solana blockchain network are recorded.
At the time of this post, the last block produced is 99270460 and it had 1205 transactions with total fee of 0.00603SOL

I checked all the blocks and I could not find their timestamps. So, to calculate the block times I will use the time the mainnet of the blockchain has been in operation.

The mainnet has been in operation for 18 months and there are 2,629,746 seconds in a month which means there are 2629746*18 = 47335428 seconds in 18 months.

Therefore, the average time per block = 47335428/99278434 = 0.4767947 ~~ 0.5 seconds per every block. This also means there are two blocks produced every second.

Conclusion

The Solana blockchain is a very fast and highly scalable blockchain network due to its Proof of History mechanism. Due to its powerful nature, it has a lot of projects such as the Sola token built on its blockchain. However, just like any other blockchain network, it has its disadvantages or drawbacks just like the disruption that happened on the network.

Thank you very much Professor @pelon53 for this wonderful lecture, I learned a lot from it.