Crypto winter sunshine

2021 was a breakout year for Solana. “If you’d invested just $500 in Solana at the start of 2021, you’d... [Product Hunt]( [Read in browser]( [This newsletter is brought to you by]( [Another reason to flock to Solana?]( 2021 was a breakout year for Solana. “If you’d invested just $500 in Solana at the start of 2021, you’d have roughly $47,500 at the end of the year,” wrote Muslim Farooque for [Yahoo News](. Solana is a programmable blockchain, like Ethereum, whose native currency is SOL. It’s been called “the Ethereum killer” as more developers have been turning to the platform to build their own decentralized apps (dapps) and cryptocurrencies. SOL has not been immune to the “crypto winter,” i.e. the recent market plunge that’s affected Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which some investors speculate will turn into a prolonged downward trajectory. Regardless, Solana’s momentum towards being a leading blockchain platform progressed this week with a new launch. [Solana Pay]( is a new way for merchants to accept crypto payments with Solana-based tokens like USDC, a stablecoin tied to the US Dollar. It was developed with partners Checkout.com (which just raised $1B), Circle (which founded USDC), Citcon (a mobile wallet payment provider), and wallets Slope and [Phantom]( (a Golden Kitty Award [nominee]( for web3). The makers are also working on an integration with Shopify. “Cash is king — and Solana Pay is more cash-like,” writes Tomio Geron for [Protocol](. Solana Pay offers merchants and customers a direct connection through a decentralized payment gateway. For merchants, that means they can skip intermediaries like Visa. For consumers, smart contracts could enable a host of opportunities, like the ability to hold funds in escrow for big-ticket items. Solana Pay is also attractive for the speed and cost of transactions. Ethereum, in comparison, is too slow to settle and too costly, noted [Sheraz Shere](, Head of Payments at Solana Labs. That’s not to say that Solana is [criticism-free](. For example, as Solana grew in popularity last year, it experienced congestion problems and slowdowns. It was also in the headlines just one day post-launch after a hacker stole $320 million in assets through Wormhole, which offers a bridge between the Ethereum and Solana blockchains. The attack was not a direct hack on the Solana network, but the incident could have a [negative impact]( on the ecosystem. So far the community has embraced the promise of Solana Pay. Add your thoughts. 👇 [To decentralized payments]( TRADE SLACK FOR YOUR BROWSER [Beseda Share]( wants to make asynchronous collaboration easy to integrate into a team’s current workflow. “Start a discussion in your browser, share the link with anyone (inside or outside your team), collaborate with audio/video/text messages, and close out the discussion with a conclusion when you’re done,” maker Ilya Kuleshov shared on the launch. [To async work]( News What is decentralized finance? An expert on bitcoins and blockchains explains the risks and rewards of DeFi [Read more (6min read)]( SPONSORED BY Winden offers bank accounts and financial products designed for digital entrepreneurs to make more money. 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