The development level of internet infrastructure is closely related to the emergence of various applications. In the early days of the internet, limited bandwidth and inefficient network communication standards resulted in prolonged webpage loading times, reducing users’ ability to access multimedia content. Under such conditions, development primarily focused on simple web applications and text-based information exchange.

As broadband expanded and data network standard technologies advanced, the efficiency of data processing on the internet significantly improved, enabling applications with diverse functionalities that could handle large amounts of data. This led to the rise of high-bandwidth applications such as video streaming platforms like Netflix, online gaming, large file sharing, real-time communication, and collaboration tools. In summary, it was the development of internet infrastructure that spurred the creation of new applications and services, fundamentally changing the way people consume digital content.

The Solana ecosystem has seen a similar trajectory. In the four years since the launch of the Solana mainnet, it has rapidly grown into an ecosystem with over 700 DApps. This is attributed to its steadily increasing network throughput, consumer/developer-friendly features, and gradually improving decentralization.

In this Solana ecosystem overview, our goal is to provide an in-depth analysis of the rapidly developing Solana ecosystem by categorizing and organizing over 250 of the most active projects, ranging from the infrastructure layer to consumer applications.

Note: This article will be included in the upcoming Solana Mega Report V2. Click here to view Solana Mega Report V1.

Infrastructure and Development Tools

As we mentioned earlier in the Solana Mega Report, the Solana ecosystem places a strong emphasis on composability, and the key factors that most significantly impact the performance and application interoperability across the entire ecosystem are the various infrastructure technologies developed at the protocol layer. Beyond the SVM technology stack used for processing transactions, developers can efficiently build a wide range of applications by leveraging Solana’s extensive toolkit, libraries, and standards.

For example, the Solana Program Library (SPL) is a versatile library that includes various functionalities such as token creation and management (SPL Token Program), token swaps, and lending protocols. The Anchor Framework is another development framework that is particularly user-friendly for developers looking to quickly create and deploy applications within the Solana ecosystem. Additionally, there are frameworks like GameShift, designed to simplify the game development process on-chain, and a set of standards for token extension and compression technologies (e.g., state compression, ZK compression), which eliminate inefficiencies in communication, allowing applications that need to handle large amounts of data or execute complex logic to be deployed seamlessly.

Source: Solana Pay Docs

In terms of usability, special mention goes to the payment-related API modules (a JavaScript library designed to simplify cryptocurrency payments) and the Blinks solution (which defines on-chain transactions in the form of URLs, allowing them to be integrated into and utilized by various applications).

Additionally, in the realm of network stability, client diversity initiatives like Firedancer, Tinydancer, and Agave are underway alongside Solana Labs and Jito Labs’ clients. Moreover, Solana is working on flexible utilization of the SVM execution environment in a multi-chain setting through SPE (Solana Permissioned Environment) or various protocols, enabling different products to build their ecosystems or enhance the efficiency of existing ones.

Below is a list of projects in the infrastructure and development tools sector that are worth closely monitoring for the future development of the Solana ecosystem.

Backpack

Coral, the parent company of the Anchor development framework, created the Backpack wallet and the NFT series Mad Lads, both of which are iconic representatives of scalable technology and thriving communities within the Solana ecosystem. These two products are implemented as xNFTs, literally “executable” Web3 application asset standard plugins.

Backpack is designed to allow users to experience various DApps realized as xNFTs within an integrated environment. Currently, it provides a seamless user experience for approximately 90 xNFT versions of applications spanning multiple fields, including gaming, NFTs, and DeFi.

Squads

Squads is a custodial layer solution that enables more secure asset management and operations, offering standards for various smart accounts, including asset management, permission settings, and multi-signature. The Squads Labs team has released the iOS beta of the first smart wallet in the Solana ecosystem, Fuse Wallet. Fuse Wallet features 2FA, spending limits, social recovery, time locks, key rotation, gas abstraction, and native staking.

Moreover, the Squads team has also launched the Squads Policy Network (SPN), allowing organizations to manage centralized custody in a trustless and decentralized manner. SPN, integrated with Jito (Re)staking, will provide all users with custom and universal policies.

Code

Code is an open payment protocol and application that allows developers to easily receive micropayments from global users. Anyone can offer a micropayment experience to users in a web environment through the “Pay with Code” button, where users pay only a 5-cent fee, and developers pay just a 1-cent fixed fee to cover blockchain transaction costs.

Sphere

Sphere is a settlement project that won the 12-month Solana Summer Camp Hackathon, providing features such as crypto on/off ramps, on-chain subscriptions, invoicing, payment links, AML/fraud prevention, and reporting.

TipLink

TipLink is a lightweight, non-custodial wallet that allows easy transfer of digital assets via links or QR codes. In other words, users can instantly create a wallet by linking their Gmail account or Solana wallet to a received link or QR code, and they can use the received assets through this linked wallet.

Dialect

Dialect provides a development stack for the decentralized messaging protocol within the Solana ecosystem. Recently, they developed the “Actions” protocol, which allows a series of on-chain transactions to be defined in the form of URLs. Additionally, they developed the “Blinks” client, which can detect these Actions protocols and allow them to be linked and used within various applications. In other words, developers can use the Actions protocol to create URL links for on-chain tasks in the desired application, and end users can seamlessly execute various on-chain activities (such as voting, predictions, subscriptions, donations, minting, token swaps, etc.) simply by interacting with these links.

Currently, various projects related to Blinks are emerging, such as Blnk.fun, which allows easy creation and trading of Blinks without coding; and Send, a community-based platform designed to explore various use cases of Blinks and activate the ecosystem.

Wormhole

Wormhole is a multi-chain cross-chain protocol developed by Solana in collaboration with Certus One, enabling the transfer of information and assets between multiple blockchains, including Solana. Particularly, Wormhole’s wrapped assets are the most liquid on Solana, and its main goal is to overcome the liquidity fragmentation in the blockchain ecosystem by building an integrated environment where assets and information can flow freely across different networks.

To this end, Wormhole employs the Native Token Transfer (NTT) framework, which utilizes mechanisms like burn-and-mint and Circle’s CCTP, and plans to enhance multi-chain governance capabilities through the recently introduced W tokens, thereby strengthening decentralized operations.

Anza

The Anza team is a software development company focused on building within the Solana ecosystem. The team consists of several core engineers from Solana Labs, and it aims to expand the adoption of the SVM ecosystem through various initiatives such as client diversification (i.e., independent client development and support) and contributions to other key protocols within the Solana ecosystem (e.g., token extensions, Solana platform tools, and SDKs).

Helius

Helius offers Solana ecosystem developers APIs, RPC nodes, webhooks, and various tools designed to enable stable blockchain application development.

Light Protocol

Light Protocol aims to build a ZK layer within the Solana ecosystem. They have co-developed ZK Compression technology with the Helius team, a technique that combines zero-knowledge proofs and state compression to significantly reduce the operational costs of data and accounts in Solana, creating an environment that allows for the development of applications with more complex logic and attracting a larger user base.

Metaplex

Metaplex is a representative toolkit designed to facilitate the creation, sale, and management of digital assets within the Solana ecosystem. Depending on the usage of each tool, Metaplex charges different fees. Half of the protocol fees collected are deposited into the Metaplex DAO treasury in the form of MPLX (Metaplex’s utility and governance token), while the other half is used by the non-profit Metaplex Foundation for the ongoing development, security, and governance of the Metaplex DAO.

Solana Labs

Solana Labs, founded in 2018, is responsible for the continuous development and support of Solana’s overall core technology stack, from infrastructure design to client and token standards (such as token extensions), with the goal of ensuring Solana operates in an optimized and efficient manner.

Eclipse

Eclipse is an Ethereum L2 based on SVM, using Ethereum as a settlement layer. It also leverages Celestia for data availability and RISC Zero’s zero-knowledge proofs for validation. Through these, Eclipse aims to maximize verifiability while ensuring the ability to process as many transactions as possible.

Neon EVM

Neon EVM is a project that allows EVM to run on Solana. The goal is to enable Ethereum-based applications and smart contracts to leverage Solana’s advantages, such as fast transaction speeds, low fees, and parallel processing. With Neon EVM, Ethereum developers can easily migrate existing Ethereum applications to Solana. Neon EVM can access data stored in Solana accounts, and all (pseudo) Ethereum accounts in Neon EVM are stored in corresponding Solana accounts.

Rome

The core idea behind Rome is to use Solana as a shared sequencing layer to improve the transaction processing efficiency of rollups. In other words, Solana sequences and executes various rollup transactions on Ethereum (or Celestia), and Rome updates the state of each rollup based on these processed transactions, ensuring they are committed on Ethereum (or Celestia).

Termina

In the Solana ecosystem, we are seeing examples of new projects built using SVM application chains, rollups, and sidechains. These approaches leverage Solana’s execution environment while maintaining flexibility in setting block creation, block space, transaction sequencing, and state management systems. Developed by Nitro Labs, Termina provides SVM cloud platform services, enabling these projects to optimize and configure their tech stack accordingly.

Finance

Although Solana is well-known for pioneering in areas like DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks), mobile, and payments, it is also becoming a significant player in the financial sector. A common misconception is that Solana’s DeFi space is limited to memecoin trading. While Solana is indeed a favorite among speculators, this is not a drawback but an advantage, as it highlights Solana’s capability to process a large volume of transactions with high throughput and low latency.

In 2024, Solana saw significant growth across several verticals in the financial sector. For instance, DEX (Decentralized Exchanges) maintained high trading volumes throughout the year, sometimes even rivaling Ethereum.

Another positive sign in Solana’s financial space is the steady growth in stablecoin market capitalization. The market cap of stablecoins in the Solana ecosystem grew from approximately $1.89 billion on January 1, 2024, to $3.8 billion on August 10, 2024, more than doubling with a total increase of around $1.91 billion.

While Solana is renowned for leading in retail applications, it is also beginning to see widespread adoption by institutions. For example, at the end of May, PayPal announced the launch of PYUSD on Solana, and other financial institutions like Visa, WorldPay, and Stripe have also joined this movement.

One of the main reasons for the increasing institutional adoption of Solana in the stablecoin and Real-World Assets (RWA) sectors is the release of token extensions earlier this year. This new feature allows developers to integrate various advanced functions into SPL tokens, such as confidential transfers for private transactions, interest-bearing features for real-world assets, and perpetual token delegation. These features were designed by Solana Labs to meet the specific needs of enterprises and institutions for advanced token functionalities and legal compliance.

These upgrades have also brought various benefits, such as the recent launch of an institutional fund by Libre Capital on Solana. This fund allows Solana users to access various funds directly on-chain via mobile, including Hamilton Lane’s SCOPE, Brevan Howard’s Master Fund, and Blackrock ICS’s Money Market Fund.

Other financial sectors on Solana, such as liquid staking (LST), are also rapidly developing. JITO has emerged as a leading LST protocol, significantly increasing the amount of SOL staked. Currently, nearly 12 million SOL are staked on JITO, with a total value locked (TVL) exceeding $1.7 billion.

Lastly, one of the most notable success stories in Solana’s financial sector this year might be Pump.Fun, a memecoin issuance platform on Solana that has capitalized on high speculative demand. Since its launch in January 2024, Pump.Fun has quickly become one of the top ten protocols across all blockchain ecosystems in terms of fees and revenue. Over approximately six months, the total revenue/fees generated by the Pump.Fun platform skyrocketed from 8 SOL on February 2, 2024, to 518,366 SOL on August 1, 2024.

Below are brief introductions to some notable projects in Solana’s financial sector.

Compute Labs and DBunker

Compute Labs and DBunker are pioneering a new concept called DePINFi, which is built on the tokenization of Real-World Assets (RWA) and Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePIN). Their goal is to lower the barriers to entry for AI computing and DePIN by reducing high initial capital costs, the need for specialized expertise, and the complexity of managing physical infrastructure.

Compute Labs achieves this by converting GPUs into GNFTs (GPU Non-Fungible Tokens) through its Compute Tokenization Protocol (CTP). This protocol effectively financializes computing hardware and deploys it into various DeFi activities, unlocking new value and bringing GPUs to market as a distinct asset class.

DBunker simplifies DePIN by tokenizing physical mining hardware through its platform, creating digital assets that represent shares of physical mining equipment. This allows users to participate in DePIN projects without managing complex physical infrastructure.

Parcl

Parcl is a decentralized real estate trading platform based on Solana, allowing users to trade and speculate on global real estate market prices. This is primarily achieved through Parcl’s City Index, which tracks the median price per square foot or square meter in different cities, providing users with exposure to entire city real estate markets rather than individual properties.

PYUSD

PayPal USD (PYUSD) is PayPal’s stablecoin. PayPal announced a strategic decision to integrate with Solana, aiming to leverage Solana’s fast settlement and low fees to usher in the next era of digital payments.

Drift Protocol

Drift Protocol is a DEX on Solana focused on improving order processing speed and market efficiency. Drift Protocol supports various features, including spot trading, perpetual trading, lending, and passive liquidity provision. Additionally, Drift Protocol is continually expanding its product range and recently announced plans to launch prediction markets.

Jupiter

Jupiter is a leading DEX aggregation platform on Solana, offering features like limit orders, futures trading, dollar-cost averaging (DCA), fiat onramps, and cross-chain functionality. Recently, the platform launched a new product line called “Ape,” designed to provide a smoother and more secure trading experience for memecoins. It also introduced the “LFG Launchpad,” supporting the launch of protocols like Sanctum, Zeus, and SharkyFi. deBridge Finance is scheduled to launch through this Launchpad at the end of August.

JITO

JITO is a liquid staking (LST) protocol that integrates Maximum Extractable Value (MEV) into its staking mechanism, sharing the profits with holders. In 2024, JITO rapidly grew its market share in the LST space and is now the largest LST protocol in the Solana ecosystem, with a TVL exceeding 12 million SOL.

Solayer

Solayer is the leading re-staking marketplace in the Solana ecosystem. Solayer focuses on enhancing network bandwidth, enabling on-chain DApps to achieve higher transaction priority and block space.

CUBE

CUBE is a leading Hybrid Decentralized Exchange (HEX) in the Solana ecosystem, designed to combine off-chain order matching with on-chain settlement using Multi-Party Computation (MPC) technology. This provides an efficient, secure, and compliant trading experience.

Magic Eden

Magic Eden is the dominant NFT marketplace on Solana, supporting a multi-chain environment, including Ethereum, Polygon, and Bitcoin Ordinals. It serves as a launchpad for projects or BTC Inscriptions.

Tensor

Tensor is a platform tailored for professional NFT traders on Solana, integrating AMM and marketplace features. It allows users to access real-time data, AMM for NFT pricing, and employ various trading strategies, including bulk purchasing, bidding, and listing/delisting NFTs. In addition to these features, Tensor offers various reward programs for retail users and plans to compete with Magic Eden for the top spot in the Solana NFT marketplace.

DePIN

DePIN leverages various incentive mechanisms to crowdsource, operate, and maintain real-world physical infrastructure on the blockchain. A key feature of DePIN is the aggregation of essential infrastructure, such as physical hardware or software. However, at a more fundamental level, the most critical factor in the DePIN business model is the efficient management and utilization of data transmitted through physical or digital infrastructure over the network. For example, Helium facilitates wireless connectivity by transmitting data from IoT devices. io.net optimizes data processing for machine learning tasks using its network of GPU/CPU nodes. Hivemapper collects geospatial data via dashboards and uses it for mapping services. DePIN is inherently data-driven, requiring a robust underlying layer capable of high transaction throughput, composability, and scalability.

With its ability to scale to thousands of transactions per second (TPS), low latency, high cost efficiency, and a thriving ecosystem and developer community, Solana has become the preferred choice for DePIN projects, attracting leading initiatives such as Render Network, Hivemapper, and Helium. The DePIN track within the Solana ecosystem is flourishing, with various projects achieving significant growth and widespread real-world adoption. A prime example is Helium, whose mobile user base more than doubled in 2024, surpassing 100,000 in July.

Below is a list of selected projects in the Solana DePIN sector that have made significant progress:

Hivemapper

Hivemapper is a global map network that uses car dashboards to collect real-time, high-resolution road images, rewarding contributors with its native HONEY token. In the second quarter, Hivemapper reached several milestones, such as successfully mapping 25% of the world’s road network and capturing about 28 million kilometers of street images per month. Additionally, it sold 5,605 dashboards in Q2 and plans to begin field testing the next-generation dashboard, Bee, soon.

NATIX

NATIX is a DePIN protocol for geospatial data mapping, aiming to address the problem of siloed data access and high commercial costs caused by big tech data monopolies. Natix achieves this by crowdsourcing cameras globally to create a decentralized dynamic map (DDMap), integrating proprietary AI, edge computing, and economic incentives.

Ambient Network

Ambient Network is a DePIN project focused on environmental monitoring, aimed at collecting global environmental data to protect the health of the planet and its inhabitants. Ambient has developed a mobile app called AmbiGO, which rewards users for contributing and mapping environmental data such as air quality, noise levels, and cleanliness in cities. Ambient plans to conduct its Token Generation Event (TGE) on Solana in Q3 2024.

Shaga

As a two-time winner of the Global DePIN Hackathon, Shaga is developing a P2P cloud gaming platform that aims to improve latency and reduce reliance on large corporations by connecting gaming PCs worldwide into an open, decentralized network driven by players.

375ai

375ai aims to build advanced decentralized wireless and edge infrastructure. Currently, 375ai has launched its first product, 375edge, a sensor and edge AI node capable of collecting, processing, and transmitting multimodal data, such as environmental and traffic data. Users can earn token rewards by deploying 375edge and collecting and reporting high-quality data.

DAWN

DAWN (Decentralized Autonomous Wireless Network) is a Solana DePIN protocol developed by Andrena, driven by users to provide affordable gigabit-speed internet for homes and businesses.

Helium

Helium is a 5G wireless network DePIN that has migrated to Solana. Users of Helium IoT device hotspots pay network fees in HNT, which are then distributed to hotspot operators. Helium’s network supports various devices, and last year, Helium Mobile launched a $20 per month telecom service offering unlimited data, calls, and texts nationwide. Additionally, Helium announced the Helium Licensing Program, allowing anyone to manufacture and sell Helium hotspot devices, enabling individuals to earn revenue through licensing fees while also contributing to the growth of the Helium network.

GenesysGO

GenesysGO developed ShdwDrive, a decentralized cloud storage platform on Solana. It uses Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) data structures to achieve efficient decentralized data storage, management, and computation. GenesysGO unveiled the first decentralized storage network powered solely by mobile devices at the Solana Crossroads conference in Istanbul. The mobile ShdwDrive will be integrated into Solana Mobile Chapter 2, with pre-orders exceeding 150,000. Once integrated, Solana Saga users can turn their devices into decentralized storage nodes and earn GenesysGO’s native token, SHDW, as rewards.

StarPower

StarPower is a decentralized energy network (DEN) protocol on Solana that aggregates and utilizes energy from various Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) to build a distributed energy network to meet the growing energy demands of AI. StarPower has launched its first product, StarPlug, which will be used to build its global energy network.

AI

In recent years, the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) has significantly impacted various industries and sparked widespread public interest in generative AI applications like ChatGPT. However, most development work, whether at the infrastructure or model layer, has been dominated by closed-source Web2 companies. This centralization issue has also fueled a wave of new AI projects in the cryptocurrency industry, leading to a surge in the development of open-source alternatives throughout last year.

The rise of decentralized AI has greatly benefited Solana, as many DePIN x AI projects have chosen to launch on this network. This is largely due to Solana’s tech stack. Solana’s ability to execute smart contracts in parallel allows for multiple non-conflicting transactions to be processed simultaneously, effectively optimizing computational hardware like GPUs and CPUs. This greatly enhances transaction processing efficiency on the blockchain, which is particularly beneficial for projects handling intensive data and computational processes, as Solana enables them to coordinate resource allocation and process transactions at scale, supporting faster and more efficient operations.

While Solana’s AI sector is not yet as mature as its DePIN sector, it is in a phase of rapid growth, with three particularly promising tracks: decentralized computing networks, data, and AI agents.

Below are some noteworthy projects in Solana’s AI sector:

io.net

io.net is a decentralized GPU aggregator designed to provide both consumer-grade and enterprise-grade computing solutions for AI/ML tasks. It is one of the largest decentralized computing networks currently, utilizing idle GPUs globally to offer cost-effective and scalable solutions for various AI/ML tasks, including parallel training, hyperparameter tuning, and inference workloads. Additionally, io.net uses a Proof-of-Work (PoW) system to prevent GPU Sybil attacks and ensure greater transparency.

Kuzco

Kuzco is a decentralized GPU cluster based on Solana, providing scalable and cost-effective inference for Large Language Models (LLMs). Kuzco has been adopted by Catena for LLM inference in its DecentAI project.

Render Network

Render Network is a GPU network dedicated to providing scalable and cost-effective 3D rendering solutions for artists and enterprises. Its application, OctaneX, has been integrated into Apple’s latest iPad Pro and was mentioned in Apple’s keynote presentation. Additionally, the opening sequence of HBO’s The Last of Us series was created using OctaneX.

Exabits

Incubated by the Harvard Innovation Lab, Exabits is developing an “AI Computing Substrate” for AI training, inference, and fine-tuning.

Grass

Grass aims to democratize AI model training through a distributed network of incentivized nodes that share idle bandwidth to collect and process network data. In the second quarter of this year, Grass achieved several milestones. First, they successfully open-sourced a user dataset containing 600 million Reddit posts and HuggingFace comments for public use in open-source AI training. Additionally, Solana wallet addresses have been integrated with users’ Grass accounts to ensure that when node data is used for AI inference or training tasks, nodes receive appropriate rewards.

Synesis One

Data is the cornerstone of AI, requiring annotation and labeling to improve the quality and accuracy of underlying models. However, in the current state, microtasks and the provision of raw data are either poorly compensated or used by tech companies without user consent and knowledge. Synesis One is a decentralized Train2Earn platform where anyone can train AI models and earn rewards. Users who own Kannon NFTs can participate in data crowdsourcing, data labeling, AI training, and other pre-processing tasks and earn corresponding rewards.

Privasea

As AI becomes an integral part of everyday life, issues related to digital identity and privacy are increasingly emerging, with sensitive data such as financial information, medical records, and personal identity data becoming more vulnerable to leaks and tampering. Privasea aims to encrypt and protect this sensitive data using Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) technologies. Notably, the Privasea team developed a DApp called “ImHuman,” which allows users to locally store and encrypt their biometric data as NFTs, enabling them to prove their identity and protect themselves from malicious bots and programs.

Dain Protocol

Dain Protocol is a decentralized AI network composed of autonomous agents. It aims to solve issues associated with today’s fragmented internet by providing a unified platform for deploying and using AI agents with multi-module functionality through the collective intelligence of multi-agent systems. DAIN recently released a no-code DeFi AI agent, DainTrader, for alpha users.

Matrix One

Matrix One is dedicated to creating multi-module AI agents by providing the necessary interfaces and tools to address some of the shortcomings of existing AI character platforms, such as high technical barriers, uneven revenue distribution, lack of options, and the ownership of individual AI characters. Matrix One offers a suite of foundational tools for developers and creators, including a character studio, 3D avatar visualizer, model index, and marketplace, making it easy to create, own, and trade tokenized AI characters.

WayFinder AI

WayFinder AI is a decentralized autonomous AI agent protocol. WayFinder powers Parallel Studios’ new game Colony, where AI agents on the platform have various capabilities, such as creating smart contracts. Additionally, these agents are highly customizable by users through advanced memory functions.

Consumer Applications

In 2022, the cryptocurrency industry faced turmoil due to multiple bankruptcies and upheavals. However, the crisis also pushed the industry towards pragmatism, sparking discussions on measures that could truly drive adoption. Solana, with its developer-friendly tech stack, excellent user experience, and mainstream blockchain positioning, emerged as the top choice for achieving these goals. The Solana ecosystem has seen strong growth in various consumer-facing applications, such as gaming and mobile trading DApps.

Below are some noteworthy consumer applications in the Solana ecosystem:

Echelon Prime

Echelon Prime serves as the foundation for the sci-fi trading card game Parallel TCG and the strategic survival game Parallel Colony, which integrates AI avatars.

STEPN

STEPN is a social lifestyle application on Solana that encourages a healthy and active lifestyle through digital NFT sneakers, allowing users to earn rewards for engaging in various daily activities.

Audius

Audius is a decentralized music sharing platform that bridges the gap between fans and musicians. It offers users the chance to access exclusive new music while allowing musicians and creators to retain control over their work and receive fair compensation. Audius has signed licensing agreements with major U.S. performance rights organizations (PROs), including ASCAP, BMI, GMR, and SESAC.

MetaDAO

MetaDAO is a decision market platform on Solana that enhances governance mechanisms using the concept of “futarchy.” MetaDAO allows users to participate in governance decisions by trading tokens representing different potential outcomes.

CUDIS

CUDIS is an AI-driven health ring that helps users manage and track their health by monitoring various health metrics such as sleep, steps, and daily activities. CUDIS provides personalized health recommendations through an integrated biometric dashboard, AI coach, and points system, rewarding users for achieving various goals to help them reach their health objectives. The first batch of CUDIS rings has sold out, and the second batch is now available for purchase.

DeStreet

DeStreet is a social trading application that won second place in the DAOs & Communities track at the Solana Renaissance Hackathon and first place at Bonkathon. This DApp allows traders to create, discover, and share trades on social media. Trade initiators can earn 20% of the total profits. Additionally, users can subscribe to their favorite influencers, automatically following their trades, thereby adding elements of gamification and social reputation.

DFlow

DFlow is a non-custodial mobile trading platform based on Solana, focused on accelerating on-chain trading adoption through its mobile trading app and liquidity aggregator. The DFlow mobile app was recently launched and is now available for download on iOS and Android.

Follows.App

Follows.App is a social trading platform on Solana that aims to innovate the creator economy through “Creator-Fi.” The app allows fans (users) to support and invest in their favorite influencers by buying and selling “Follows,” offering fans unique experiences and providing creators with new monetization opportunities.

Community and Culture

La Masia, the youth academy of FC Barcelona, is renowned for producing world-class players like Messi, Xavi, and Iniesta. Just as football clubs rely on nurturing grassroots talent and building a shared culture, blockchain communities are crucial for fostering talent, creating a common culture, and driving growth.

Much like La Masia, Solana hosts one of the most vibrant communities in the cryptocurrency space, filled with passionate project founders, developers, and investors. These individuals cultivate and attract global talent to the Solana ecosystem through various initiatives, hackathons, and funding programs.

Many major projects in the Solana ecosystem, such as Magic Eden, JITO, and io.net, started in hackathons. They remain loyal to Solana and give back by attracting new users, partners, and liquidity, as well as sponsoring hackathons. In a sense, the Solana community is the cornerstone of a virtuous cycle, enabling ongoing innovation and growth.

Culture is the glue that holds a community together. For Solana, this is embodied in the slogan “Only-possible-on-Solana” (OPOS) and large groups formed around NFTs and memecoins. For instance, Solana Monkey Business (SMB), Mad Lads, Bonk, and PONKE started as purely artistic or meme expressions but, through their cultural and aesthetic appeal, eventually formed larger communities that strengthened the entire Solana ecosystem. Examples include MonkeDAO (which organizes global Solana meetups and funds projects) or the recent Bonkathon, co-hosted by Radiants, Bonk, and Phase Labs, with prizes up to $300,000.

Below are some projects and teams shaping the culture and community track in the Solana ecosystem:

Bonk

Bonk is a dog-themed memecoin on Solana, launched on December 25, 2022. In 2023, Bonk gained attention after being included in the Solana Saga airdrop. Since then, Bonk has developed use cases beyond meme appeal, including projects like BonkBot and Bonkswap, as well as various other integrations with DeFi, gaming, and NFTs.

dogwifhat

dogwifhat is a Shiba Inu-themed memecoin with a logo featuring a Shiba Inu wearing a pink hat. Launched in November last year, it quickly gained attention and is currently the largest memecoin on Solana by market capitalization.

Popcat

Popcat originated from the viral “the cat that pops” video series in October 2020.

Fidelion

Fidelion is an NFT project set in a post-apocalyptic world in 2080. Through excellent storytelling and brand building, the project is expanding its IP. It has also launched an NFT game and a mobile game called Mega Road.

Mad Lads

The Mad Lads NFT series is based on the xNFT standard, aiming to explore the potential of NFTs as decentralized applications. The launch of Mad Lads played a crucial role in reinvigorating the Solana community, which was struggling in the wake of the FTX incident.

Retardio

Retardio is another memecoin on Solana, originating from a debate between influencer Andrew Tate and X user @trading_axe.

MonkeDAO

MonkeDAO is the first NFT DAO on Solana, evolving from a decentralized community centered around Solana Monkey Business (an NFT collection) in 2021. The organization actively engages in various activities, including operating a Solana validator, running a staking pool, hosting online events, and investing in early-stage projects—all of which are 100% community-managed. Through these efforts, MonkeDAO has significantly contributed to the early success and sustainable growth of the Solana NFT market.

Radiants

Radiants is a community of creators, developers, and artists within the Solana ecosystem. Recently, Radiants partnered with Bonk, Phase Labs, and the Solana Foundation to host the Bonkathon event.

Superteam

Superteam is a global community of founders, developers, grantees, and other stakeholders working together to develop and incubate new innovative projects within the Solana ecosystem. Superteam has branches in 12 different countries (including Brazil, Germany, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Turkey, Vietnam, the UK, UAE, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Canada) to cultivate global talent.

Colosseum

Colosseum is an accelerator platform by the Solana Foundation that hosts competitive hackathons and supports early-stage startups in the Solana ecosystem. Hackathon winners are enrolled in the Colosseum program, gaining opportunities to connect with top venture capitalists and receive grants of up to $250,000.

Colosseum hosted the Solana Renaissance Hackathon, attracting over 8,300 participants from 95+ countries, with 1,070 projects submitted across fields such as infrastructure, gaming, DePIN, DAO, DeFi, and long-tail consumer applications.

Solana Foundation

The Solana Foundation is a non-profit organization that provides grants, funding, and resources to developers, projects, and various initiatives to develop and promote the Solana ecosystem.

Solana Breakpoint

Solana Breakpoint is an event organized by the Solana Foundation, bringing together industry experts, artists, developers, and community members. This year’s Solana Breakpoint will take place on September 20-21 in Singapore.

Solana Crossroads

Solana Crossroads is an annual community conference held in Istanbul, Turkey. The purpose of Solana Crossroads is to connect members of Solana’s global community and provide them with networking opportunities. This year’s Crossroads had over 3,000 attendees and 50+ speakers.

Solana Summit

Solana Summit is the largest gathering of Solana ecosystem founders, creators, and developers in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. It aims to connect Solana enthusiasts and strengthen community building. This year’s Solana Summit took place from June 20-22 in Malaysia, with over 750 attendees from 55 countries and 95+ speakers.

SolanaFloor

SolanaFloor, supported by Step Finance, is designed to report the latest developments in the Solana ecosystem.

Validated

Validated is a Solana ecosystem podcast hosted by Austin Federa, Head of Strategy and Communications at the Solana Foundation.

statement:

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