Young cryptocurrency players with a lot of growth potential are a great way to lift your portfolio over time. And considering recent declines in the cryptocurrency market, many of these players are on sale. I'm thinking of Solana (SOL 0.56%) and Avalanche (AVAX 0.59%). They've each lost about 75% since the start of the year.
Solana and Avalanche both are blockchains and have their own native tokens -- SOL for Solana and AVAX for Avalanche. And these players each are making themselves known in the world of cryptocurrency. Today, Solana and Avalanche are the ninth and 15th biggest cryptocurrencies, respectively, by market value. Let's find out why they may help your portfolio over the long term.
1. Solana
Solana is known for its transaction speed and the low cost of using the blockchain for various operations. That has a lot to do with Solana's manner of verifying transactions. Solana uses a proof-of-history method. This involves marking blocks of data with timestamps as part of the verification process. So, what types of transactions are we talking about? Everything from trading non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to making a stablecoin payment. I'll focus on these two.
First, NFTs. More than 5.7 million NFTs have been minted -- or created -- on Solana at an average cost of $1.50. Minting an NFT on some platforms can total $500 or even more. And Solana is getting to be a big NFT player. It's the second biggest by sales volume after Ethereum, according to CryptoSlam. As for payments, Solana is strong here too. Solana recently launched Solana Pay. It's a system merchants can use to harness the speed of the blockchain. Solana can process as many as 60,000 transactions per second. And the average fee totals a fraction of a cent.
CRYPTO: SOL
Key Data Points
Solana's main weakness is stability. The blockchain has reported several outages over the past year. The most recent happened earlier this month. This represents a risk. But it's also important to remember Solana still is in beta stage. If software engineers can solve the stability problems while Solana is in beta, the platform's future could be bright.
2. Avalanche
Avalanche is another blockchain known for speed. And that's due to this crypto player's structure. It's composed of a primary network and three chains. The primary network validates and secures each chain. The exchange chain is used for the creation and exchange of assets. The platform chain coordinates validators and creates subnets. And the contract chain executes contracts.
Due to this structure and the use of subnets, Avalanche's transaction capacity is almost unlimited. And all transactions reach completion in less than two seconds. This speed also keeps costs for users down.
Another plus for Avalanche is its compatibility with Ethereum. Ethereum is the world's second-biggest blockchain and a leader in NFTS and decentralized applications (dApps). It may be difficult to unseat. And that's why the idea of working with Ethereum rather than against it is a good one. Developers can launch an existing Ethereum dApp right on Avalanche. And users can transfer assets between the two blockchains using the Avalanche bridge.
CRYPTO: AVAX
Key Data Points
Avalanche launched in 2020. So, it's at the start of its growth story. But there are still plenty of things you can do right now on the blockchain. Avalanche hosts more than 200 projects, including decentralized finance, culture, and wealth management applications.
We should keep in mind that cryptocurrencies are risky. Consider your comfort with risk before adding them to your portfolio. For instance, if you're a cautious investor, you probably should opt for a small position. An aggressive investor might feel comfortable with a bigger holding.
As for Solana and Avalanche, they may be the perfect choices for crypto investors looking for the next potential growth story.
