Solana has been seen as a potential global blockchain backbone, but according to Ethereum community member Ryan Berckmans, it may not be able to fulfill this role. Berckmans points out that Solana initially marketed itself as capable of handling global transactions on a single chain before shifting its focus to Layer 2 solutions, which were rebranded as “Network Extensions.”
One of the main barriers preventing Solana from becoming a global backbone, according to Berckmans, is the fact that it operates with only one production client, agave rust. A global backbone would require at least three independent chain clients with balanced stake distribution. Additionally, the development of Solana’s second client, Firedancer, has faced delays due to a lack of proper protocol specification and research community.
Solana’s high bandwidth requirements, which recommend a 10Gbps upload, also pose centralization risks and practical limitations. This challenges the platform’s ability to operate as a global backbone that should be accessible anywhere. Furthermore, Solana’s history of outages and lack of protocol-level fallback capabilities present additional risks compared to Ethereum.
Another concern raised by Berckmans is the economic centralization of Solana, with approximately 98% insider allocation from its initial coin offering, compared to Ethereum’s 80% public sale. This raises questions about true decentralization on the Solana network.
In terms of technological advancements, the emergence of zk proof aggregation for Layer 2 settlement poses a challenge to Solana’s position as a global backbone. While Solana focuses on Layer 1 execution scaling, this approach conflicts with the requirements for a global backbone.
Looking ahead, Berckmans predicts that Solana’s market share will continue to decline year-over-year compared to Ethereum’s combined Layer 1 and Layer 2 ecosystem. Major corporations like Coinbase, Kraken, Sony, and Visa have chosen Ethereum Layer 2 solutions, indicating a shift in the market towards Ethereum.
In conclusion, while Solana has shown strength in areas like meme coin growth and price appreciation, its fundamental limitations may prevent it from serving as the backbone of a global financial system. The analysis conducted by Berckmans highlights the challenges Solana faces in becoming a global blockchain backbone and the factors that may hinder its ability to fulfill this role.