Cardano and Solana are competitors in the decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible token (NFT) space as both provide blockchain smart contract capability that makes it possible to create these assets. As the bear market gained momentum, both their native cryptocurrencies such as ADA and SOL also registered significant declines in the market. But once again, the crypto market has started to see upside and the question has again arisen as to which is the better investment.
Cardano vs Solana in DeFi and NFTs
Despite Cardano being the older of the two, Solana’s growth in the DeFi and NFT space quickly outpaced the former as it offered smart contract compatibility first. At this point, Solana is playing catch-up to networks like Ethereum and Solana, given that both of these blockchains already had an established community ahead of Cardano’s introduction of smart contract capabilities in September 2021.
At its peak, SOL’s total value locked (TVL) surpassed $10 billion, compared to ADA’s $326 million peak. Solana is also the second largest network for NFTs behind Ethereum, a development that has seen the Magic Eden NFT marketplace continue to battle for market share with the infamous OpenSea.
SOL TVL crossed $10 billion at ATH | Source: DeFiLlama
However, Solana was closely linked to FTX and Almeida, both of which were slated for 2022. This negatively affected the sentiment surrounding the network, causing TVL and NFT trading volumes to tank at the same time.
Now, Solana TVL is sitting at $240 million while Cardano is at $117 million, according to dfilm, This puts the two networks in significantly closer margins, and narrows the gap between them performance-wise.
SOL Price vs ADA Price
As stated earlier, the collapse of FTX and Alameda Research hit Solana hard, pushing its price down from above $34 to single-digit levels, before a market recovery in early 2023 back to $19. Retested the $25 level before falling.
In terms of price performance over the past year and how well both digital assets are doing compared to their all-time high prices, Cardano emerges as the better option over Solana. where SOL is down 92.44% from its $259 ATH price, ADA is down 89.42% from its $3.10 ATHdata from Messer shows.
ADA price down over 89% from ATH | Source: ADAUSD on TradingView.com
However, on the flip side, both digital assets actually reached their cycle lows on the same day this year; January 7th. But while ADA is only up 37.32% from its cycle low, SOL is up over 98% since the same day. This highlights the high interest in Solana, helping its value increase more quickly than ADA.
As per historical data, SOL has been the better performer of the two and may continue to do so going forward. But it is also important to note that Cardano has developed a cult-like following, which has proven to be a key factor for the Shiba Inu-like cryptocurrency to perform well.
Credit : www.newsbtc.com