What Is Solana and How It Works in 2025

Solana is a high-performance Layer 1 blockchain built to support decentralized applications at Internet scale. Thanks to fast block times, low fees, and efficient parallel execution, it has become a key platform for DeFi, NFTs, AI, and real-world infrastructure.

But what makes Solana unique compared to other chains — and why do projects like Ping Network choose it as their execution layer?

What Is Solana?

Solana is an open-source blockchain protocol optimized for speed, scalability, and low latency. Launched in 2020 by Solana Labs, it was designed to overcome the bottlenecks of older blockchains like Ethereum — particularly high gas fees and limited throughput.

The native token, SOL, is used for transactions, staking, and ecosystem participation.

Solana differs from modular rollup-based chains by running everything on a single high-performance chain. This design allows for stronger composability and user experience without fragmented liquidity or delayed finality.

How Solana Works: Core Technologies

Solana integrates several technical innovations to achieve its performance goals.

1. Proof of History (PoH)

A cryptographic clock that timestamps events before consensus. This reduces validator communication overhead and helps accelerate block production.

2. Delegated Proof of Stake (PoS)

Users stake SOL with trusted validators. In return, validators secure the network and process transactions while earning protocol rewards.

3. Sealevel Parallel Runtime

Solana can execute thousands of smart contract calls in parallel, unlike most blockchains that run contracts sequentially. This is crucial for apps with high-frequency logic.

4. Gulf Stream and Turbine

Gulf Stream pushes transactions to validators ahead of block confirmation to reduce latency.
Turbine splits data into packets to improve propagation across the network.

Combined, these features allow Solana to reach:

Block times of ~400 milliseconds
Thousands of transactions per second
Average transaction fees below $0.01

Key Benefits of Solana

High throughput and low latency
Fast finality for real-time interactions
Low transaction costs for users and developers
Seamless composability between dApps
Native support for validator logic and on-chain coordination
Growing traction in AI, DePIN, and infrastructure

Real Use Cases on Solana in 2025

Solana supports production-scale applications across multiple verticals:

DeFi: Jupiter, Kamino, Drift, MarginFi
NFTs: Magic Eden, Tensor
AI compute: Render Network, Gradient, Parallax
DePIN: Ping Network, Andrena, Gata
Validator coordination: Jito, Fragmetric

Solana is becoming the base layer not just for tokens or games — but for programmable infrastructure.

Why Ping Network Builds on Solana

Ping Network is building a decentralized bandwidth protocol that supports VPN, CDN, uptime tracking, data scraping, and geo-routing.

Solana gives Ping the tools to coordinate real devices and track performance using blockchain-native primitives.

Solana powers:

High-speed validation of bandwidth sessions and node uptime
On-chain infrastructure logic through the Node Consensus Network (NCN)
Integration with validator staking via Jito
Restaking flows and metadata routing through Fragmetric

Solana provides the speed, scale, and finality Ping needs to build a real-time, programmable coordination layer for bandwidth infrastructure.

Solana vs Other Blockchains

Final Thoughts

Solana has established itself as the most production-ready Layer 1 for infrastructure-grade applications. Its low latency, composability, and cost efficiency make it ideal for protocols that need to scale beyond finance — into bandwidth, AI, and coordination.

Projects like Ping Network use Solana to manage real-world infrastructure, verify bandwidth contributions, and run validator logic in a secure and scalable way.

If you're building systems that depend on fast, decentralized coordination, Solana is your choice.

Learn More

→ Download the Ping App
→ Read the Docs