What is Solana and easy onboarding steps

Solana is a decentralized blockchain built to enable scalable, user-friendly apps for the world. Created in 2017 by Anatoly Yakovenko, a former executive at Qualcomm, Solana aims to scale throughput beyond what is typically achieved by popular blockchains while keeping costs low. Solana implements an innovative hybrid consensus model that combines a unique proof-of-history (PoH) algorithm with the lightning-fast synchronization engine, which is a version of proof-of-stake (PoS). Because of this, the Solana network can theoretically process over 710,000 transactions per second (TPS) without any scaling solutions needed.

Solana’s third-generation blockchain architecture is designed to facilitate smart contracts and decentralized application (DApp) creation. The project supports an array of decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms as well as nonfungible token (NFT) marketplaces.

Solana blockchain was rolled out during the 2017 initial coin offering (ICO) boom. The project’s internal testnet was released in 2018, followed by multiple testnet phases leading to the eventual official launch of the main network in 2020.

👩‍🎤 User

Wallet

• Phantom Wallet A non-custodial, chrome extension, Solana crypto wallet
• SolFlare Non-custodial wallet for Solana

Bridge

• Allbridge: backed by APYSwap API 2022-Q1 Foundation: https://allbridge.io/
• Wormhole: just release v2, (liquidity still not stable BSC↔︎ETH↔︎SOL): https://wormholebridge.com/#/transfer

Stake

• Marinade: Liquid Stake+Ref SOL get mSOL APY 6.16% and farm SOL-mSOL: https://marinade.finance/
• Lido: stSol Liquid Stake (planned Ref) APY 5.89%: https://solana.lido.fi/
• Stake rank: https://stakewiz.com/

Farms

• Raydium (DEX on Serum): https://raydium.io/
• APYSwap: Stake(ABR APR 522.37%): https://stake.apyswap.com/
• 🐳 Orca: Pools(ABR-USDC APR 218%): https://www.orca.so/pools
• Saber: cross-chain stablecoin exchange, low and unable to sort APY: https://saber.so/
• Mercurial : Stable wbBUSD-wbUSDC-wbUSDT-USDC APY 14.33% : https://mercurial.finance/pools/wbbusd-4pool
• Jupiter : takes zero fees : https://jup.ag/stats

Farm creation

• Atrix: https://app.atrix.finance/#/create/farm

Yield Aggregator

• 🌷 Tulip- Aggregates yield farms from Raydium and Saber : https://tulip.garden/leverage
• ☀️ Sunny- Aggregator (Solana’s composable DeFi yield aggregator), low apy bad ui: https://app.sunny.ag/
• Francium - Solana Yield Farming Calculator : https://francium.io/app/calculator
• Cykura- Concentrated liquidity: https://cykura.io

Fundraising Protocol

• Solanium: https://solanium.io/
• Strata : https://strataprotocol.com/

  Strata Protocol is an open-source protocol to launch tokens around a person, project, idea, or collective on Solana.

NFT

• https://www.metaplex.com/
• https://solanart.io/

DAO

• Tribeca: https://tribeca.so/

  Tribeca is a protocol for creating, managing, and interacting with decentralized autonomous organizations on Solana.

Explorer

• SolScan: https://solscan.io/token/orcaEKTdK7LKz57vaAYr9QeNsVEPfiu6QeMU1kektZE
• Solona Explorer: https://explorer.solana.com/address/orcaEKTdK7LKz57vaAYr9QeNsVEPfiu6QeMU1kektZE

Token List

• https://github.com/solana-labs/token-list
• https://shipcapital.substack.com/p/drop-005-solana-tokendao

🧑🏻‍💻 Developer

Must Read

• ok so what the fuck is the deal with solana anyway: https://2501babe.github.io/posts/solana101.html
• angkor wat: https://2501babe.github.io/posts/anchor101.html
• How smart contracts work on Solana’s Proof of History based blockchain: https://medium.com/solana-labs/high-performance-memory-management-for-smart-contracts-aa9b3bc950fb
• Solana Doc: https://docs.solana.com/
• Sealevel parallel runtime
• Solana Program Library (SLP): https://spl.solana.com/

  The Solana Program Library (SPL) is a collection of on-chain programs targeting the Sealevel parallel runtime.

• Solana Development Tutorial: Things you should know before structuring your code: https://solongwallet.medium.com/solana-development-tutorial-things-you-should-know-before-structuring-your-code-807f0e2ee43
• Solana Transactions in Depth: https://medium.com/@asmiller1989/solana-transactions-in-depth-1f7f7fe06ac2
• Solana internals
  • Part 1: what are the native on-chain programs and why do they matter?

    https://blog.soteria.dev/solana-internals-part-1-what-are-the-native-on-chain-programs-and-why-do-they-matter-61c981483e86

  • Part 2: how is a Solana program deployed and upgraded

    https://blog.soteria.dev/solana-internals-part-2-how-is-a-solana-deployed-and-upgraded-d0ae52601b99

  • Part 3: the transaction processing unit (TPU)

    https://blog.soteria.dev/solana-internals-part-3-the-transaction-processing-unit-tpu-79887af07a04

  • Part 4: the bank — a key component

    https://blog.soteria.dev/solana-internals-part-4-the-bank-a-key-component-1d47b94cd705

Learn

• Solana Development Course: https://soldev.app/course

  This course is designed to be the absolute best starting point for Web Developers looking to learn Web3 Development. https://github.com/Unboxed-Software/solana-course

• Solana Cookbook: https://solanacookbook.com/

The Solana Cookbook is a developer resource that provides the essential concepts and references for building applications on Solana.

• BUIDL a Solana Program - Explain me like I am web2: https://blog.mwrites.xyz/your-first-solana-program
• Build a Web3 App on Solana: https://buildspace.so/learn-solana

  Ship an epic Web3 app on Solana with React and Rust.

• Questbook x Superteam: https://www.startonsolana.com/

  Learn how to build on the world’s fastest blockchain by doing these quests and start contributing to ecosystem projects right away!

Rust

• https://github.com/katopz/awesome-rust

Basic examples

• Figment Learn: https://learn.figment.io/
• Hello World
• Hello Chainlink Price Feeds on Solana
• Break Solana
• R/W JSON format on the Solana contract
• Program examples written in Rust
• Interface for creating and managing SPL Tokens
• Solana Web3 Example: https://yihau.github.io/solana-web3-demo/

Wallet/dApp examples

• SPL Token Wallet (Serum): https://github.com/project-serum/spl-token-wallet
• Library to allow Solana dApps to use third-party wallets to sign transactions: https://github.com/project-serum/sol-wallet-adapter
• 🏗 Solana App Scaffold: https://github.com/solana-labs/dapp-scaffold
• Web3 Solana, Near: https://github.com/russellwmy/web3-rs

Video examples

• Building SmartContracts With #Solana and #Rust: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA7hFdq2h9Q
• Solana Programming: Connect to Wallet, Send Money, Query Transaction History: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVPGJ_CZTAw
• Build Dapps with Solana and Arweave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jz5v_u75xk8
• How to Anchor: An introduction to the Anchor Framework: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmdPAwsqJC4
• Avareum - Hello Rust and Anchor Framework (Thai Language): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUnvIO2d-lc
• Writing Smart Contracts on Solana with Anchor by Armani Ferrante: https://youtu.be/cvW8EwGHw8U?t=10
• Why you should build your DeFi Dapp using Anchor by Henry Elder: https://youtu.be/725ddOvfWjk?t=23
• Programming Solana Smart Contracts | Hello World Anchor Tutorial by Henry Elder: https://youtu.be/oD1umX_DnUw
• Programming Solana Smart Contracts | Intermediate Anchor Tutorial by Henry Elder: https://youtu.be/i6Ycr5nhjH8
• PsyOptions Demo Video: https://youtu.be/wNM_MTQQSwY
• Foresight Demo Video - Prediction Markets: https://youtu.be/rL0bzGuwcdo
• Wormhole Video Tutorial - How use Wormhole: https://youtu.be/zooVxP5Ucws
• Rust Solana Tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsKbzsN7q1o&list=PLUBKxx7QjtVnU3hkPc8GF1Jh4DE7cf4n1

Advanced examples

• Programming on Solana - An Introduction: Building the escrow program
• A Vesting Contract for the Solana Blockchain
• Token Vesting and Stream Payments
• Staking (Use Anchor)
• Permissioned Markets (Use Serum)
• The Complete Guide to Full Stack Solana Development with React, Anchor, Rust, and Phantom: https://dev.to/dabit3/the-complete-guide-to-full-stack-solana-development-with-react-anchor-rust-and-phantom-3291
• Swap: https://github.com/REGO350/macroswap
• Anchor: A Powerful Framework for Solana Developers: https://hackmd.io/@ironaddicteddog/solana-anchor-escrow
• Create a Solana dApp from scratch: https://lorisleiva.com/create-a-solana-dapp-from-scratch

  Implement a simplified version of Twitter as a Solana dApp (decentralised application). We’ll write our own program and use it in a custom VueJS app.

• Paginating and ordering accounts in Solana: https://lorisleiva.com/paginating-and-ordering-accounts-in-solana
• Solana NFT resources : https://www.de.xyz/

Other examples

• Anchor (IDO, CFO, Swap, Multisig, Escrow, Game, Chat, Proxy, …): https://github.com/project-serum/anchor/tree/master/tests
• Voting App: https://medium.com/@smith_10562/a-simple-solana-dapp-tutorial-6dedbdf65444
• The Rust-only Voting example based on MoonZoon and Solana: https://github.com/MartinKavik/voting-solana-moonzoon
• Solana File Upload: https://github.com/mcf-rocks/solana-upload
• SPL Token UI: https://github.com/paul-schaaf/spl-token-ui
• SPL Token Faucet: https://github.com/paul-schaaf/spl-token-faucet

  Token faucets allow developers to easily give others access to tokens of a specific mint without sending around their private key. This is accomplished through a token faucet program.

  When creating a token faucet, the chosen token’s mint authority is transferred to a Program Derived Address. The program then accepts minting requests. Having received such a request, the program checks that the requested amount is lower than the configured max amount or that the requester is the faucet admin (in which case they may mint as much as they like). These parameters can be set during faucet creation. Finally, a faucet may be closed again but only if it has an admin configured which must sign the closure tx. Faucet closure will transfer the token’s mint authority back to the admin.

• Messaging App (POC): https://github.com/kemargrant/soltalk
• Solana tutorials: https://soldev.app/library/tutorials
• Solana Cookbook: https://solanacookbook.com/

  The Solana Cookbook is a developer resource that provides the essential concepts and references for building applications on Solana. Each concept and reference will focus on specific aspects of Solana development while providing additional details and usage examples.

Libraries & Frameworks

• Solana Program Library (SPL) is a collection of on-chain programs targeting the Sealevel parallel runtime: https://github.com/solana-labs/solana-program-library/blob/master/examples/rust/README.md
• Anchor Framework: a framework for Solana’s Sealevel runtime providing several convenient developer tools : https://project-serum.github.io/anchor/tutorials/tutorial-0.html
• Anchor Book: https://book.anchor-lang.com/
• StreamingFast Solana library for Go
• Rust Library for the Binance API
• Peripheral contracts for interacting with Saber: https://github.com/saber-hq/saber-periphery
• The best Solana Program Template (No Anchor!): https://github.com/stegaBOB/solana-program-template

  Includes Shank/Solita SDK generation, Amman support, scripts, .github configuration, and more!

Farm SDK

• Orca: https://github.com/orca-so/typescript-sdk
• Francium: https://github.com/Francium-DeFi/francium-sdk

Full Stacks

• Tokio: https://tokio.rs/

  Tokio is an asynchronous runtime for the Rust programming language. It provides the building blocks needed for writing network applications. It gives the flexibility to target a wide range of systems, from large servers with dozens of cores to small embedded devices.

RPC servers

• Project Serum: https://solana-api.projectserum.com (recommended)
• Figment-Solana: https://docs.figment.io/network-documentation/solana/rpc-and-rest-api
• Solana: https://api.mainnet-beta.solana.com (can be unstable)
• GenesysGo: https://genesysgo.com/
• RunNode: https://runnode.com/
• Triton RPC Pool: https://rpcpool.com/
• Blockdaemon: https://blockdaemon.com/marketplace/solana/
• Syndica: https://syndica.io/
• QuickNode: https://quicknode.com/
• Pocket Network: https://www.pokt.network/

Data/API

• Token list: https://github.com/solana-labs/token-list/blob/main/src/tokens/solana.tokenlist.json
• Serum Price API by Sonar: https://docs-price-api.sonar.watch/
• DataHub: https://figment.io/datahub/
• Flux Protocol (cross-chain oracle aggregator): https://www.fluxprotocol.org/
• Serum Vial - real-time WebSocket market data API for Serum
• Bonfida: https://docs.bonfida.com/#exchanges
• Bitquery: https://graphql.bitquery.io/ - graphql for Solana blockchain, article

Oracle

• Pyth provides real-time on-chain market data: https://pyth.network/
• Switchboard allows builders to create data feeds from any API: https://switchboard.xyz/

Price examples

• curl 'https://price-api.sonar.watch/prices/orcaEKTdK7LKz57vaAYr9QeNsVEPfiu6QeMU1kektZE'
• curl 'https://api.solscan.io/account?address=orcaEKTdK7LKz57vaAYr9QeNsVEPfiu6QeMU1kektZE'
• Anchor + Pyth: https://github.com/project-serum/anchor/blob/master/tests/pyth/tests/pyth.spec.ts

Messaging

• Wormhole is a protocol for communication between different blockchains: https://wormholenetwork.com/

Storage

• Arweave and Solana partnered to provide a decentralised permanent data storage solution of ledger data: https://www.arweave.org/
• arweave-parallel-uploader: https://github.com/scottym5797/arweave-parallel-uploader
• Ceramic (Streaming IPFS): https://ceramic.network/

Tools

• SPL Token UI for general token management on all clusters
• Sollet.io allows you to request airdops and mint test tokens where allowed
• SPL Token Creator UI
• Bonfida Token Minter
• SPL Manager
• honggfuzz-rs: Fuzz your Rust code with Google-developed Honggfuzz!
• https://github.com/lithdew/alon : Alon is an IDE which allows for developers to rapidly build, iterate, test, and deploy decentralized apps and assets on Solana right from their browser
• https://github.com/agoraxyz/agora-solana/blob/main/agsol-borsh-schema/README.md

  A parsing library that generates TypeScript classes and serialization schemas from Rust data structures.

• Solana PoC Framework: https://github.com/otter-sec/solana-poc-framework

  A framework for creating PoC’s for Solana Smart Contracts in a painless and intuitive way.

• Solana Playground: https://beta.solpg.io/
• Trdelník: https://github.com/Ackee-Blockchain/trdelnik

  🦀 Trdelník is Rust based testing framework providing several convenient developer tools for testing Solana programs written in Anchor.

• scfsd: https://github.com/FrankC01/solana-gadgets/tree/main/rust/scfsd

  gathers all feature sets and their status from the various Solana clusters

Network status

• @solanastatus Twitter
• Services status an official site
• Solana Beach services status and block explorer
• Solana Validators view validators statistics
• https://www.realtps.net/

Ethereum related

• From Ethereum smart contracts to Solana programs: two common security pitfalls and beyond: https://medium.com/coinmonks/from-ethereum-smart-contracts-to-solana-programs-two-common-security-pitfalls-and-beyond-ea5b919ade1c
• Neon EVM is an Ethereum virtual machine on Solana that enables dApp developers to use Ethereum tooling to scale and get access to liquidity on Solana.
• Solana Composability vs Ethereum Composability: https://blog.strataprotocol.com/solana-composability-vs-eth-composability

Others

• https://github.com/skywinder/web3swift : web3swift is an iOS toolbelt for interaction with the Ethereum network.
• https://github.com/ajamaica/Solana.Swift : Pure swift for Solana protocol.

M1 related

• How to make Solana Test Validator work with a Macbook with M1 chip: https://dev.to/codenjobs/how-to-make-solana-test-validator-work-with-a-macbook-with-m1-chip-5emd

WASM related

• A technical overview of developing gold.xyz: https://mirror.xyz/goldxyz.eth/cP4BqSyI_xP04VgRSsAtdDyDkvDcfUG_ZFgWYILDhjQ?123

  memmap2, rpc workaround

👩‍🚀 Product Examples

NFT

Metaplex is a strategic partner of Solana Labs

• Create a Solana NFT marketplace and mint NFTs using Metaplex on Arweave: https://learn.figment.io/tutorials/create-a-solana-nft-marketplace-with-metaplex
• Metaplex Docs : https://docs.metaplex.com/architecture/deep_dive/overview
• Build unique generative NFTs on Solana with Candy Machine v2 and Hashlips Engine: https://learn.figment.io/tutorials/generative-nfts-on-solana-with-candy-machine-v2-and-hashlips
• Mint NFTs on Solana using Metaplex and Anchor: https://github.com/anoushk1234/metaplex-anchor-nft

  An example repo to demonstrate how to use anchor and metaplex to mint nfts on solana

Serum

(FTX DEX backend): https://projectserum.com/

• DEX source code
• Serum.JS, client-side javascript resources to connect to the DEX
• Serum DEX UI, an implementation of a UI for the Serum DEX
• Testnet deployment of prototype DEX
  • DEX Program
  • DEX Market
• Mainnet examples:
  • DEX Program
  • DEX Market
• Swap based on Serum DEX orderbook:
  • Swap UI
  • Swap code

Ceramic

• Playground: https://developers.ceramic.network/explore/sample-apps/

Step.finance

Step Finance is a portfolio visualisation platform which aggregates all LPs, tokens, farms and positions that a user may have associated with their wallet and displays it in an easy to use dashboard with various useful metrics and visualisations. Step aims to be the page which DeFi users have open all day with all the functions and information they need to make informed decisions.

• Github: https://github.com/orgs/step-finance/repositories

Bonfida

Bonfida is a an on-chain and off-chain tool suite that enables the creation of trading pools.

• Github: https://github.com/Bonfida

IdentitySwap (forked token-swap)

IdentitySwap is an Automatic Money Market (AMM) dApp that demonstrates the concept of Decentralised Identity on the Solana SPL Token-Swap program. A user can interact with a liquidity pool only if they are in possession of a valid identity account, certified by a trusted identity validator.

• Github: https://github.com/civicteam/identity-swap

StreamFlow Finance

A powerful primitive that serves as a building block for various payment-related solutions.

• Github: https://github.com/StreamFlow-Finance

Agrora http://agora.xyz

Agora Space connects Discord, Twitter and other social media platforms with the blockchain providing a range of tools to upgrade DAOs and Social Token communities.

• Github: https://github.com/agoraxyz

Cronos: https://www.cronos.so/

Cronos is a decentralized task scheduler for Solana.

• Github: https://github.com/cronos-so/cronos

Cardinal: https://www.cardinal.so/

The Utility Layer for Solana NFTs.

• Github: https://github.com/cardinal-labs

Hydra: https://hydra-dox.vercel.app/

Hydra is a wallet of wallets, a fanout wallet if you will. It enables extremely large membership sets that can take part in fund distribution from a central wallet. It works with SOL and any SPL token.

😱 Pitfalls

• Solana Smart Contracts: Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them: https://blog.neodyme.io/posts/solana_common_pitfalls
• 10 vulnerabilities to avoid when writing Solana programs: https://twitter.com/pencilflip/status/1483880018858201090
• Sealevel Attacks: https://github.com/coral-xyz/sealevel-attacks

  Examples of common exploits unique to the Solana programming model and recommended idioms for avoiding these attacks using the Anchor framework.

DAO

• Deploy DAO: https://github.com/DeployDAO/migrator
• Solana Governance:
  • ui: https://github.com/solana-labs/governance-ui
  • governance-sdk: https://github.com/solana-labs/oyster/tree/main/packages/governance-sdk
  • spl: https://github.com/solana-labs/solana-program-library/tree/master/governance

🕵🏻‍♂️ Audit

• Soteria (Recommend): http://soteria.dev/
• Soteria — A vulnerability scanner for Solana smart contracts: https://medium.com/coinmonks/soteria-a-vulnerability-scanner-for-solana-smart-contracts-cc202cf17c99
• How to audit Solana smart contracts
  • Part 1: a systematic approach: https://medium.com/coinmonks/how-to-audit-solana-smart-contracts-part-1-a-systematic-approach-56a434f6c9ed
  • Part 2: automated scanning: https://medium.com/coinmonks/how-to-audit-solana-smart-contracts-part-2-automated-scanning-ceb88830ae6d
  • Part 3: penetration testing: https://medium.com/coinmonks/how-to-audit-solana-smart-contracts-part-3-penetration-testing-a315b3bbb2d3
  • Part 4: the Anchor framework: https://medium.com/coinmonks/how-to-audit-solana-smart-contracts-part-4-the-anchor-framework-ef42d944f086
• Bonfida by Kudelski: https://github.com/Bonfida/token-vesting/blob/master/audit/Bonfida_SecurityAssessment_Vesting_Final050521.pdf
• Quantstamp: https://solana.com/SolanaQuantstampStakePoolAudit.pdf
• Neodyme: https://solana.com/SolanaNeodymeStakePoolAudit.pdf
• Kudelski: https://solana.com/SolanaKudelskiStakePoolAudit.pdf
• Solido: https://github.com/ChorusOne/solido/tree/main/audit
• Saber.stable-swap: https://github.com/saber-hq/stable-swap/blob/master/audit/bramah-systems.pdf
• Quarry: https://github.com/QuarryProtocol/quarry/blob/master/audit/quantstamp.pdf
• OtterSec: https://github.com/otter-sec

Incident

• 2020-09-14 - Reflections on Solana’s Sept 14 outage: https://jumpcrypto.com/reflections-on-the-sept-14-solana-outage/
• 2022-02-03 - The Wormhole Hack: https://blog.soteria.dev/the-wormhole-hack-how-soteria-detects-the-vulnerability-automatically-eb0f433e8071
• 2022-04-26 - Solana Program Library token-swap critical rounding exploit: https://osec.io/blog/reports/2022-04-26-spl-swap-rounding/
• 2022-04-30 - Solana Mainnet Beta Outage Report and Mitigation: https://solana.com/news/04-30-22-solana-mainnet-beta-outage-report-mitigation
  • NFT bot (6m per second): https://twitter.com/SolanaStatus/status/1520554250803236867
  • https://twitter.com/StrataProtocol/status/1520591579777421312
  • https://twitter.com/metaplex/status/1520608064155521024
  • https://twitter.com/laine_sa_/status/1520778331746095105
• 2022-06-02 - Solana outage cause by durable nonces bug: https://solana.com/news/06-01-22-solana-mainnet-beta-outage-report-2
  • https://twitter.com/laine_sa_/status/1532130311152226304
  • Solana Deep Dive - Network Outage: https://twitter.com/i/spaces/1RDGlgNOebqKL?s=20

🎙 Talks and Podcasts

• Breakpoint 2021: Serum: Powering DeFi 2.0 / Writing Smart Contracts on Solana with Anchor
• Breakpoint 2021: Why You Should Build Your DeFi Dapp Using Anchor
• Breakpoint 2021: From Elsewhere: Oracles and Data Feeds
• Breakpoint 2021: NFT Mechanics