This week, Solana ($SOL) experienced a bearish run as its price fell along with the entire crypto market. $SOL has recorded its lowest downturn in two weeks, dropped by 22% in the last seven days, according to CoinGecko.
However, the Solana ecosystem continues to add more projects to its platform and is gaining attention among institutional investors. Notably, the Ethereum killer with over 400 projects is currently one of the most active networks in the blockchain space.
Here are the recent exciting updates from the Solana ecosystem.
1 – Solana Network Integrates with TRM Labs
TRM Labs, a blockchain intelligence firm, has entered a strategic partnership with Solana to provide top-notch security for the blockchain platform.
TRM + Solana 👀
Excited to share that TRM is now fully integrated with @solana https://t.co/exB1sHhoAL
— TRM Labs (@trmlabs) September 23, 2021
The integration will enable Solana to use TRM’s risk intelligence feature to protect Solana’s $SOL and $SPL tokens. Invariably, the partnership will help Solana identify financial crime risk in transactions, wallets, addresses, and other entities on its platform.
According to the announcement, Esteban Castaño, co-founder and CEO of TRM Labs, noted that the integration will enable projects built on Solana to identify cryptocurrency fraud and financial crime. He further explained that the integration would maintain the Solana-based project’s compliance with AML/CFT regulations.
“Solana has incredible momentum already, and we’re proud to advance it further by enabling this critical trust and safety layer,” Castaño said.
2 – Orca Raises $18M Series A Funding
Alternatively, the Solana-based decentralized exchange has raised $18 million in Series A funding led by Polychain, Three Arrows Capital, and Placeholder.
We're excited to announce our $18M Series A!
And thrilled to partner with incredible investors from @polychaincap @placeholdervc, Three Arrows, @jumpcapital, @SinoGlobalCap, @Collab_Currency, @DeFianceCapital, @ZeePrimeCap, Coinbase Ventures, and @solana.https://t.co/rdrTTceE6l
— Orca ☀️ (@orca_so) September 22, 2021
According to the announcement, the funding will be used to hire more staff for the project. It also revealed that the capital raised would be used to continue improving its automated market maker (AMM).
On the other hand, the Series A round, which is Orca’s first external fundraising, also witnessed the participation of Coinbase Ventures, Jump Capital, Solana Capital, among others.
Notably, Orca is currently the fourth-ranked project in the Solana ecosystem by total value locked (TVL). According to DefiLlama, the project’s TVL at writing was more than $600 million.
3 – Wormhole Unveils NFT Bridge Between Ethereum and Solana
Wormhole has unveiled an NFT Bridge between Ethereum and Solana, allowing users to transfer NFT assets across chains.
🔥 Wormhole extends their Token Bridge to support #NFTs, making it easy to move NFTs between Ethereum and Solana https://t.co/fvuqz5WvK3
— Solana (@solana) September 22, 2021
Announcing the new initiative via a tweet from its official Twitter handle, Wormhole noted that the bridge is bi-directional. This means users can send NFTs cross chains effectively, and the asset will be fully compatible with the other blockchain.
Wormhole noted that while the initial version only support ERC-721 and SPL assets. The platform is looking to add support for cross-chain transfers of ERC-1155 assets.
Essentially, Ethereum remains the leading platform for NFTs with leading marketplaces like OpenSea and others. However, Solana, due to its fast transactions and cheap fees, is gradually closing the gap.
4 – Allbridge, Saber Is Bridging cUSD To Solana
Allbridge has entered a strategic partnership with Saber to launch the first Celo-bridged liquidity pool.
We are thrilled to announce the integration of @CeloOrg and $cUSD 🔥
With the assistance of our partners @Saber_HQ Allbridge offers access to $cUSD on the @Solana network. Check our Medium post for details 👇https://t.co/fhvHMOpUbG@CeloOrg #crosschain #stablecoin
— Allbridge (@Allbridge_io) September 21, 2021
As a result of the partnership, Allbridge will provide bridging solution for Celo Dollar (cUSD) to Solana. Also, Saber will allow users to bridge cUSD onto Solana in a wrapped form.
According to the announcement, users will also exchange cUSD for Solana’s USDC or earn yield for providing liquidity. Notably, Celo/Solana bridge will also be available for APYs, a token by APYSwap Foundation.
Saber, in a statement, also expressed delight with the integration. Nothing would help onboard Celo mobile users to Solana. Saber will also empower Celo native payment applications to integrate Solana backend infrastructure.
5 – Hedgehog Launches on Solana
Hedgehog, a decentralized prediction markets (DPM) platform, has officially launched on the Solana ecosystem. Now users can predict the outcome of future events, from election results to sports events to auction sale prices.
📢https://t.co/n8bhhdWYhu MAINNET LIVE
We are Hedgehog Markets, the first prediction markets platform on @Solana
We offer the fastest txs, most delightful design, & most fun experience for prediction market enthusiasts
Test your knowledge in our #NFL #EPL #Crypto markets pic.twitter.com/9bAQisCAcS
— Hedgehog Markets (@HedgehogMarket) September 22, 2021
According to Hedgehog, it will strive to offer the most user-centric prediction market platform covering all areas.
The platform also noted that it chose to build on the Solana ecosystem due to its speed and low network fees. “We believe that this provides a strong foundation for our entire user experience,” it added.
Also, Hedgehog launched six flagship No-Loss Competitions with more than USD 100,000 up for grabs. Users can participate in the competition by staking $100 USDC or $1,000 USDC, with corresponding prize pools starting at $5,000 and $30,000 USDC.
6 – Slope Finance, Mango Market Enters Strategic Partnership
Mango Markets, a decentralized exchange on the Solana, has secured a strategic partnership with Slope Finance.
🚀We are officially partnered with @mangomarkets, a decentralized autonomous organization.🥭🥭🥭
🔵Slope users are allowed to trade spot margined and perpetual futures markets in a timely manner.👏👏 pic.twitter.com/0VDaEfONIg
— Slope (@slope_finance) September 23, 2021
As a result of the partnership, Slope users can now trade spot margins and perpetual futures markets on Solana.
$SOL Price update
$SOL price reached a $214 all-time high on September 9 after rallying 508% since August.
However, $SOL as of the time of publication was up by 0.5%, trading at $138.47 with a 24-hour trading volume of USD 2.2 billion. $SOL currently has a circulating supply of 297.5 million SOL coins and a total supply of 488 million.
Join us on Telegram to receive free trading signals.
For more cryptocurrency news, check out the Altcoin Buzz YouTube channel.