⏹️ Solana Can Press a Button to Shutdown

Solana having an on/off switch that can be flipped on a whim is one of the oldest, and most ridiculous pieces of FUD still making the rounds today.

While Solana has suffered from several high-profile outages in the past, these were due to technical challenges or resource issues, not because someone "turned off" the network.

Resolving these outages required coordinated efforts from the community, not a centralized decision.

In crypto, it's not uncommon for competing projects or their supporters to spread negative or false information about each other.

But the quotes of this PARODY tweet just showed how quickly people will fall for their own bag bias…

I won’t list them all here, but if you want a good laugh, check out some of the quotes of the tweet above!

Also check out this article to find out just why this claim is nonsense.

Solana can press a button to Shutdown

👬 Ethereum Vs AND Solana

The article draws a parallel between the mobile operating system landscape and the blockchain ecosystem, comparing Ethereum to Android and Solana to iOS.

Ethereum, like Android, values modularity and has a decentralized approach, with its expanding ecosystem of L2 networks and the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) serving as a popular blockchain operating system.

However, this approach brings challenges in consistency and user experience.

On the other hand, Solana mirrors iOS in its emphasis on a tightly integrated ecosystem, providing a unified, high-performance platform for developers.

The comparison underscores the different value propositions of Ethereum and Solana, much like Android and iOS in the mobile world.

As an Android guy (I’ve never owned a single Apple product) this comparison stings a bit, but the message here is recognizing the merits of different blockchain platforms and what they bring to the ecosystem.

It isn’t a case of Solana vs. Ethereum, but a world where both exist offering different solutions, and it’s up to developers to pick which is right for their particular use case.

Ethereum And Solana

🌌 Hyperdrive Projects

Hyperdrive hackathons submissions have closed just as I’m putting the finishing touches on this newsletter.

This mega-thread kicked off by Chase Barker, Head of Developer Ecosystem at Solana Foundation, is a round-up of many of the projects that were submitted, what they do, and how you can follow them.

I can’t wait to see all the entries and results, but if this thread is any indication there are going to be a ton of new, powerful apps for the Solana ecosystem coming out of this hackathon!

Hyperdrive Projects Mega Thread

💎 Solana Developer News

Modular vs. Integrated: Theory and Practice
In Issue #20 I shared Kyle Samani’s The Hidden Costs of Modular Systems. In this video from the 2023 Multicoin Summit, Kyle examines the modular vs integrated debate both by walking through the constraints in blockchain systems, and by looking at real world data and usage.

Web3 Builders Alliance Q4 Cohort
I was a member of the Q2 WBA program, and now I’m in the “Artisan Guild” where builders are educated and supported in the launch of real-world applications. Just check out this mega-thread of projects under development by WBA participants, mine (Vanward) included! WBA is NOT your typical coding bootcamp and applications for the Q4 cohort are open now.

Calyptus Curriculum for Experienced Solana Builders is Live
Calyptus has launched its free advanced level Solana course. In this 8-module course you’ll learn how to create tokens and mint regular and compressed NFTs, build dApps, mobile development, and building your own trading bot and borrowing/lending platform. I’ve gone through the first 6 modules so far and I’ve found it very well put together.

⚡Quick Hits

How to Create & Verify Collections on Solana using Rust - Superteam UAE

Enhancing Wallet Security with PassKeys on Solana - Harsh Ghodkar 

The Toly Interview: Building A Better Blockchain - Mad Lads

October Solana Ecosystem Call Recap - @SebMontgomery

Squads Protocol raises $5.7M investment - @SquadsProtocol

Building dApps with Flutter and Solana Mobile Stack - Raunak Raj Rauniyar

Performance improvements for Anchor apps - @acheroncrypto

Solana going Social (Social-Fi) - Arianna Cabrera

New Security Features in Backpack Wallet - @Attis_gaming

360º coverage on the Solana ecosystem - OurNetwork

Solana Foundation is hiring a Technical Program Manager for Core Development Coordination - @Austin_Federa

⚙️ Tools & Resources

Anchor 0.29.0 is out! Minimum supported Solana version is now 1.16.0. Anchor.toml has a new section called [toolchain] that allows overriding the current toolchain versions inside the workspace. Updates also include multiple files template, upgradeable programs, Lamport utilities, typ-safe context bumbs, idl-build feature, TypeScript SDK improvements, and more.

digital-asset-standard-api is an open-source specification for interacting with digital assets on Solana that provides easy access to a standard SDK supporting multiple RPC providers, documentation of API methods, and a streamlined process for submitting improvements to the Metaplex DAS API.

solang-examples are Solidity on Solana using Solang examples to mint and transfer ERC-20 Tokens.

Cade (coming soon) is a social gaming platform on Solana providing fun game experiences, prizes, leaderboards, PFPs, P2P markets for gamers, and a developer SDK to plug into the platform.

🎙️ Listen to This

Validated

In this episode, Austin Federa has a freeform conversation with Anatoly Yakovenko about the state of Solana.

Beyond the cliches of the past, present, and future of the network, Austin and Toly explore higher level ideas such as design philosophy, hardware limitations, balancing new features with network performance, AI and blockchain, and much more.

The Toly Episode

Thanks for reading ✌️

I hope you found something useful here! If you have any suggestions or feedback just let me know what you think.