Latest news with #Layer1
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Peter Thiel Just Backed an Ethereum Miner -- and the Stock Took Off
Peter Thiel just threw his weight behind Ethereum again. The billionaire investor and PayPal co-founder has taken a sizable stake in a crypto mining company that's going all-in on Ethereum (ETH-USD), according to a report from Business Insider. While the miner wasn't named in the story, that didn't stop investors from piling in. BMNR stock surged as much as 30% after the disclosure of Thiel's 9.1% stake. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 4 Warning Signs with NVDA. It's a bold move at a time when Ethereum is still figuring out its post-Merge identity. Even with the shift away from proof-of-work, mining adjacent operations especially those optimizing validator infrastructure and Layer-2 activity are drawing attention. For Thiel, it's not a one-off. He's long been a believer in crypto's disruptive potential, backing firms like Bitpanda and Layer1 in the past. This latest investment suggests he sees Ethereum as more than just a tech layer he sees it as core financial infrastructure. The market's reaction? Loud and clear. Investors are paying attention, and so is the rest of the crypto world. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Better Cryptocurrency to Buy Right Now: Cardano vs. Solana
Key Points Solana is gaining traction in multiple cryptocurrency segments at the same time. Cardano is struggling to bootstrap its decentralized finance ecosystem. Emerging growth segments could make an opening that disrupts the dynamics here. 10 stocks we like better than Solana › Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) and Cardano (CRYPTO: ADA) both promise high performance, but only one is already zipping along the fast lane while the other still hugs the shoulder. If you are looking for an investment in crypto today, you need to know which is which, so let's dive in and take a look. Solana is already taking off When it comes to good user experience (UX) in crypto, the best that most investors and users can hope for are blockchains that are lightning-quick and so cheap to use that they're nearly free. Transactions on Solana cost roughly $0.0008 at recent prices, and most transactions close in less than a second. Cardano's average fee, in contrast, climbed to $0.29 in first-quarter 2025 as on‑chain activity fell, and its settlement times can be between 15 seconds and a full minute, which is enough to cause a bit of friction for users. Solana's better tech leads to more adoption, more decentralized application (dApp) usage, and more capital hosted on its chain. Solana generated $271 million in network revenue in the second quarter, its third quarter in a row leading all chains. It also matched every other Layer-1 (L1) and Layer-2 (L2) chain combined in monthly active wallet addresses during June. As if that weren't enough, Solana's decentralized finance (DeFi) total value locked (TVL) sits near $9.3 billion, second only to Ethereum. Underpinning that DeFi ecosystem are the chain's stablecoins. Stablecoin float on Solana jumped 5.5% month-over-month to reach $10.4 billion as of July 16. Cardano's recent report shows essentially the opposite trends. Its average daily transactions dropped 28% to 51,500 in Q1, DeFi total value slid 29% to $319 million, and fee revenue fell 32% to just $1.3 million. For investors, those metrics translate directly into token demand, or a lack thereof. More users paying fees and more capital parked on‑chain mean stronger secular tailwinds for Solana. Cardano, meanwhile, is contending with shrinking throughput and a bloated fee structure. Growth engines vs. good intentions Solana is attracting projects across virtually every growth segment in crypto. Non-fungible token (NFT) marketplaces, AI‑centric data networks, real‑world‑asset (RWA) tokenizers, a booming meme coin scene, and integrated payment with the traditional financial sector are all present and flourishing, among other areas. The chain's snappy development cycle is part of the reason projects are comfortable with initiating their work on the chain because there's a reasonable expectation for the chain's capabilities to continue to evolve to support their needs. In contrast, Cardano's development culture is famously methodical. In theory, that pays off with rock‑solid security, but in practice it slows everything to a crawl. Its scaling solution, Hydra, which was touted since 2020 as a high-throughput Layer‑2 chain running on top of Cardano, remains largely academic and underutilized despite some impressive results on high-throughput tests in mid-2025. To make matters worse, Cardano's stablecoin market cap is a minuscule $32 million, a rounding error next to Solana's. Without a feature‑rich scaling layer and sufficient volumes of key financial infrastructure like stablecoins, institutional interest in Cardano is thus muted, choking off inflows of capital, and encouraging developers to gravitate elsewhere. The verdict Could Cardano catch up to Solana in the future? Possibly, but investors need to weigh the opportunity cost here. Solana is already executing across consumer and institutional channels, and its fee economics give it room to absorb new demand without breaking user wallets. Cardano must first reignite user growth, get users to take advantage of Hydra's scaling capabilities, and finally convince major financial players to onboard -- or outperform in an emerging growth segment that the other major players haven't already sunk their teeth into. Therefore, if you want a live network with proven product‑market fit, increasing revenue, and a pipeline of institutional catalysts, Solana is the obvious pick for being the better buy. Should you buy stock in Solana right now? Before you buy stock in Solana, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Solana wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $652,133!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,056,790!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,048% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 15, 2025 Alex Carchidi has positions in Ethereum and Solana. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Ethereum and Solana. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Better Cryptocurrency to Buy Right Now: Cardano vs. Solana was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Which Cryptocurrency Could Be a Millionaire Maker? Dogecoin vs. Solana
Key Points Both Solana and Dogecoin have experienced huge run-ups in the past. Solana is successfully competing in several key crypto segments. Dogecoin is waiting for economic and liquidity conditions to break in its favor. 10 stocks we like better than Dogecoin › Luck might have favored early buyers of certain cryptocurrencies, but lightning rarely strikes the same spot twice, and almost never if there aren't a set of factors forcing it to happen. Many of the once-tiny tokens at the center of the 2021 crypto bonanza have since swollen into large-cap behemoths, but only a couple have the gas in the tank to repeat the feat. In that vein, Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) began as a meme coin made of pure whimsy, whereas Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) pitched itself as a high-speed platform for serious developers -- only to recently get a reputation for being a meme coin casino rather than a venue for economically valuable projects. Could either of these assets make someone who invests now into a millionaire? Solana is still powering up while others idle Before a coin can multiply in value, it needs rising demand. In turn, there need to be some underlying drivers to incentivize users and investors to create that demand. On the demand front, Solana's on-chain usage keeps smashing its own records. The chain's active wallet addresses hit 116.4 million in June, more than every other Layer-1 (L1) and Layer-2 (L2) chain combined, while its Q2 revenue topped $271 million, leading the industry by leaps and bounds. That activity feeds directly into Solana's token-burning mechanism, somewhat tightening supply just as headlines draw in fresh investors. Developers follow users and capital, and vice versa. In 2024, Solana was the top destination for new application developers in crypto, attracting 7,625 fresh contributors, an 83% year-over-year leap that even nudged its archrival Ethereum from the top slot. The influx is seeding even more growth into an already sprawling ecosystem. The chain's segments, like decentralized finance, decentralized physical infrastructure networks, meme coins, on-chain AI frameworks, and tokenized real-world assets, are all jockeying for attention, capital, and new users. That's a big part of the reason the chain's bridges with institutional capital keep appearing. Visa's stablecoin platform singles out Solana's rapid settlement layer as fit for mainstream payments, hinting that major consumer payment services may eventually plug straight into the chain's validator set. None of the above guarantees that the coin will experience the 100-fold upside it would need to make an investor with a position of $10,000 into a millionaire, yet it does create a credible growth flywheel. Usage of Solana's main segments delivers network fees and revenue, which increases the coin's staking yield, thereby further incentivizing inflows of institutional capital seeking a yield, and therefore also stoking developer interest to make new apps and subsequently drive more usage in the future. Most chains in crypto don't have that right now, and it's why Solana is one of the sector's leaders. The meme that forgot to evolve Dogecoin's superpower is its cultural cachet. Pretty much everyone has heard of it, and anyone who has heard of it has probably heard at least vaguely about its face-melting run-ups in 2021 and late 2024. Unfortunately, memes don't write code, nor do they entice institutional capital. Dogecoin averaged fewer than six active developers per month back in late 2019, and the picture has scarcely improved since then because there's no mechanism for creating that outcome. The latest core release landed seven months ago and delivered minor bug fixes rather than new functionality -- and there aren't exactly a legion of technical users clamoring for either. Another issue is that Dogecoin's supply policy is inflationary by design. Five billion new Dogecoin tokens enter circulation each year. The coin's total circulating supply right now is about 150 billion. That steady supply drip dilutes existing holders unless demand rises faster, which is a very tall order for an asset with no real use case. There is no smart contract platform, no native stablecoin, no compliance toolkit for institutions, and no serious roadmap to change any of the above. Without any utility to anchor value, Dogecoin remains chained to fickle sentiment and the occasional celebrity tweet. It might be the king of the meme coins, but it isn't going to gain in value unless the external macroeconomic and liquidity environment is overwhelmingly favorable, at which point there are probably still better assets to invest in. There is only one sensible verdict here As stated previously, turning $10,000 into $1 million means achieving a 100-fold return. For Solana, a 100-fold move from today's $89 billion market cap would create an $8.9 trillion monster, which is to say that it would be larger than a couple of the world's largest corporations combined. For Dogecoin, 100-fold on a $31 billion market value implies a $3.1 trillion meme coin. Either scenario is theoretically possible, yet wildly improbable given macro-liquidity constraints and the still-tiny share of global wealth allocated to digital assets. Do not buy either of these coins hoping to become a millionaire because it won't happen. But if your goal is to inch closer to seven-figure wealth, Solana offers the only credible shot, provided you can stomach volatility, regulatory surprises, and the chance that another chain outcompetes it in key segments. Do the experts think Dogecoin is a buy right now? The Motley Fool's expert analyst team, drawing on years of investing experience and deep analysis of thousands of stocks, leverages our proprietary Moneyball AI investing database to uncover top opportunities. They've just revealed their to buy now — did Dogecoin make the list? When our Stock Advisor analyst team has a stock recommendation, it can pay to listen. After all, Stock Advisor's total average return is up 1,060% vs. just 179% for the S&P — that is beating the market by 881.02%!* Imagine if you were a Stock Advisor member when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $679,653!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,046,308!* The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 15, 2025 Alex Carchidi has positions in Ethereum and Solana. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Ethereum, Solana, and Visa. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Which Cryptocurrency Could Be a Millionaire Maker? Dogecoin vs. Solana was originally published by The Motley Fool Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Aurora Mobile Pops on Plans to Add Solana to Crypto Treasury
Aurora Mobile (JG, Financials) saw its shares rise 3.2% Thursday after revealing it may use the Solana blockchain to manage part of its crypto reserves; a move the company says is driven by utilitynot speculation. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 5 Warning Signs with JG. The Chinese tech firm said its board approved a new cryptocurrency treasury strategy in June; Solana, known for its fast speeds and minimal transaction costs, is being considered as a key pillar in that plan. Aurora Mobile added that Solana's growing acceptance among institutionsand its reputation as a top-tier Layer 1 blockchainmakes it a strong candidate for inclusion. The company believes this approach will help it connect the dots between mobile ecosystems and blockchain innovation. It's also a way to diversify its treasury holdings and hedge against inflation; both are part of a broader bet on digital assets as a permanent fixture in tech infrastructure. This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
dLocal and BVNK collaborate to enable stablecoin-based global payouts
Cross-border payment platform dLocal and stablecoin payments infrastructure provider BVNK have partnered to facilitate stablecoin-based payouts globally. The collaboration will facilitate money movement across over 40 markets. Under the agreement, BVNK will supply dLocal with stablecoin payment rails to support quicker settlements for dLocal's global merchant base. In return, dLocal will provide BVNK access to its Layer1 platform's fiat payout rails, expanding BVNK's presence in emerging markets across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. This will enable customers to use stablecoins for cross-border payments, with funds delivered to recipients in local currencies, according to dLocal. dLocal CRO John O'Brien said: 'dLocal is constantly exploring ways to expand access and improve settlement times for our clients. 'By integrating BVNK's stablecoin capabilities, we can offer even faster, borderless payments - without compromising compliance or control.' The partnership builds on a relationship established in 2016, when dLocal began using stablecoin-based payments as one of the first global payment service providers. The collaboration connects blockchain-based value transfer with regulated fiat settlement systems across more than 40 markets. BVNK co-founder Chris Harmse said: 'With Layer1, we're building a programmable payments network that connects stablecoins with trusted local payout rails. 'By integrating leading providers like dLocal, we're unlocking seamless, compliant value transfer into some of the most complex markets in the world.' dLocal specialises in local payments in emerging markets, connecting global merchants with consumers in regions including APAC, the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa. BVNK provides stablecoin infrastructure for global financial services, holding licences in key jurisdictions and partnering with Tier 1 banks to process transactions for clients such as Worldpay, Deel, and dLocal. "dLocal and BVNK collaborate to enable stablecoin-based global payouts" was originally created and published by Electronic Payments International, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
