Bank of America (BofA) analyst Alkesh Shah recently published a study on cryptocurrency, which raised the argument that Solana (SOL) could usurp more market share from Ethereum as time goes on.
In his study, Shah noted that Solana “produces a blockchain optimized for consumer use cases by prioritizing scalability, low transaction fees, and ease of use,” referencing Solana Foundation member Lily Liu.
The analyst noted that attributes like its ease of use and low cost make SOL perfect for micropayments, gaming, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Boasting over 50 billion transactions settled since its launch in March 2020 and $10 billion in total value locked (TVL), Shah noted:
“Solana could become the Visa of the digital asset ecosystem.”
With a market capitalization of over $46.7 billion (press time data), Solana currently holds the fifth spot in the largest crypto rankings. Interestingly, Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, currently boasts of a capitalization of over $397 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.
Solana Dominates Crypto Industry by Transaction Speed
Shah asserted that Solana’s contrast from Ethereum is “proving successful,” adding that the capitalization difference creates an opportunity for Solana. Citing its proof-of-history consensus mechanism, the Bank of America analyst noted:
“These innovations allow for the processing of an industry-leading ~65,000 transactions per second with average transaction fees of $0.00025 while remaining relatively decentralized and secure.”
Shah described in his note that the Ethereum blockchain prioritizes decentralization and security at the expense of scalability, adding that the network’s scalability problems frequently lead to congestion of the network and ultra-high transaction fees.
Explaining that other more scalable blockchains, like Solana, would capitalize on this weakness and gradually claim Ethereum’s market share, Shah noted:
“Ethereum’s prioritization could optimize it for high-value transactions and identity, storage and supply chain use cases.”
Meanwhile, behemoth crypto exchange Coinbase recently asserted that “ETH scalability will improve.” It added the caveat that “As we welcome the next hundred million users to crypto and Web3, scalability challenges for ETH are likely to grow.”
