Stocks and bonds are great ways to build wealth. However, traditional asset classes often look boring compared to the explosive potential of cryptocurrency. With prices up by a jaw-dropping 9,400% over the last five years, Solana (SOL +3.69%) is an excellent example of the industry's millionaire-making potential. For comparison, the S&P 500 returned a relatively measly 96% over the same period.
But does this speed-focused blockchain network have what it takes to continue trouncing the market? Let's dig deeper into the pros and cons of investing in Solana to see what the future might bring.
CRYPTO: SOL
Key Data Points
Is it time to diversify away from the dollar?
For many Americans, 2025 highlights the serious challenge of currency risk. You can diversify your net worth into everything from stocks to real estate. But if all these assets are denominated and primarily traded in U.S. dollars, a decline in the currency could eat away at your returns.
This year, the dollar index, which compares the U.S. dollar to a basket of other popular currencies, declined an alarming 8.8%, significantly eroding the S&P 500's return of 14.5%. And concerns about volatile U.S. trade policy, central bank independence, and a rising national debt could continue to pressure the dollar's performance over the long term.
Cryptocurrency allows investors to reduce their exposure to the dollar while also enjoying the potential for market-crushing returns that might be harder to find in alternative fiat currencies like the euro or Japanese yen.
Solana stands out
Unlike traditional asset classes, cryptocurrencies can't be valued based on intrinsic factors like revenue, earnings, or growth. However, that doesn't mean they are all the same. Despite launching relatively recently in 2020, Solana has quickly soared to become the sixth-largest cryptocurrency, with a market cap of $100 million. And its success likely has a lot to do with its innovative and performance-focused design.
The blockchain was unique for pioneering a system called proof of history (POH), which helps it process a whopping 50,000 transactions per second. For context, rival Ethereum processes just 15 to 30 transactions per second. Solana's POH is combined with a more traditional proof-of-stake (POS) block validation system that allows investors to earn rewards of newly minted SOL tokens by acting as validators on the network.
Image source: Getty Images.
Solana's stellar performance has given it a strong brand. And just as importantly, it is attracting development activity to the network. Like Ethereum, the Solana blockchain is designed to be a platform for programmable decentralized applications (dApps). And its speed and scalability have attracted recent high-profile projects like President Donald Trump's cryptocurrency, Official Trump, which has a market cap of $1.2 billion.
While meme coins like Official Trump rarely turn into sustainable successes, they benefit the Solana network by boosting network volume, which means more fees and more staking demand for Solana tokens. These projects also increase the blockchain's visibility and prestige.
Is Solana a millionaire-maker cryptocurrency?
With a market cap of $100 million, most of Solana's easy multibagger returns have already been made. And investors shouldn't expect a repeat of the 9,400% rally the asset enjoyed over the last half-decade. That said, Solana is still a long-term winner, especially considering the macroeconomic tailwinds blowing over the cryptocurrency industry as American investors face a greater need to diversify outside of the dollar.
Solana's technical prowess and growing brand recognition should help it outperform alternatives in the industry. Meanwhile, its POS consensus mechanism allows patient investors to earn impressive yields from staking rewards. According to data from Coinbase Global, the current estimated reward rate of Solana is 4.32% per year, which is very appealing compared to the S&P 500 average dividend yield of just 1.2%.
