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Lido Terminates Staking on Solana as SOL Surges 10% In 24 Hours
- Lido Finance DAO has halted new staking requests on Solana after an October token vote, due to unsustainable finances and low fees.
- Despite this, SOL surged almost 30% in 30 days, claiming back its previous market cap rank.
- Solana continues to present bullish use cases, with cross-border payments being one notable example.
The price of popular crypto Solana (SOL) has increased 8.59% in the last 24 hours and 26.32% over the past month, data from CoinMarketCap shows. Currently, one SOL trades for US $24.02 ($37.78), ranking seventh in overall cryptocurrency market cap.
Lido to Sunset on Solana
Lido Finance, a decentralised liquid staking protocol, will stop operations on the Solana blockchain after a community vote in Lido’s decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO). The decision, based on unsustainable finances and low fees from Lido on Solana, was proposed by Lido’s peer-to-peer team on Sept. 5, with voting concluding on Oct. 6.
Lido explained, “After extensive DAO forum discussion followed by community vote, the sunsetting of the Lido on Solana protocol was approved by Lido token holders and the process will begin shortly.”
Users can expect continued staking rewards throughout the sunsetting process, and they can unstake via the frontend until February 4, 2024, after which they’ll need to use the Command Line Interface.
Bullish Use Cases for Ethereum Killer
SOL’s past performance was likely influenced by its association with FTX and past network issues. Despite recent concerns about FTX selling a significant portion of SOL, most remains locked, limiting its monthly release and calming market nerves.
In bullish developments, DMCC Crypto Centre, Dubai’s leading authority on commodities trade, has partnered with the Solana Foundation at the DMCC. This partnership will enhance DMCC offerings, allowing members to leverage Solana’s blockchain platform.
The Solana Foundation will provide technical support, business development aid, and grant programs to DMCC companies while also offering educational webinars on Web3 topics. Solana will also establish a presence at the DMCC Crypto Centre to integrate and collaborate with its extensive network.
Additionally, Visa’s recent integration with Solana for quicker USDC payments highlights Solana’s benefits of high speed and low costs.
Solana Co-Founder Weighs In
In a discussion with Austin Federa of the Solana Foundation, Anatoly Yakovenko, the Solana co-founder, spotlighted the merits of crypto payments, particularly for content creators.
He underscored how conventional online finance mechanisms are intricate, granting platforms like Twitter or TikTok undue control over the financial dynamics between creators and their audience.
These platforms effectively “own” the content and the financial connections, making it challenging for creators to move on without sacrificing revenue. As a result, instead of working independently, creators often feel tied to these platforms because financial transactions occur primarily through them.
Yakovenko said, “I’m actually more focused on trying to do stuff that’s obvious today. I think that’s just really important, to try to get users to go do the things that already work at scale, and those are payments. Very simple kind of thing; let’s send money to each other in a cheap and fast way without going around the world.”
What about SOL’s Future?
Ex-Goldman Sachs executive Raoul Pal believes Solana (SOL) is significantly undervalued. He suggests that if Solana maintains its current growth in economic activity, it could potentially outperform ETH. Drawing parallels with past trends, where ETH achieved a 47X increase from its 2018 low, Pal speculates that Solana might see similar growth, though he remains uncertain about the exact magnitude.
Author
Aaron Feuerstein
Aaron Feuerstein is a freelance writer based in Melbourne. His focus is on decentralised finance and the regulatory space surrounding blockchain. He holds a Master's in Accounting. When he is not studying the latest legal case, he enjoys his time as a modest but eager hobby cook.
