Following the hacks on Solana, crypto analysts regard Cardano (ADA) and Polygon (MATIC) as more secure blockchain platforms. Strong security gives potential investors a solid reason to invest their money. Attracting enough volume of traders and holders will result in the success and adoption of a blockchain project.
With the recent massive protocol hacks that cost millions of dollars, investors are looking for the safest and most innovative technologies to enhance the overall experience for everyone in the blockchain. Web3 developers are looking for ways to make better versions of Ethereum and Bitcoin, hence being called “Ethereum killers” or “Bitcoin killers.”
With Cardano’s Ouroboros proof-of-stake protocol and Polygon’s advanced Layer 2 framework for blockchain networks, buyers find these two projects more efficient than Solana currently does. If Solana does not step up its security in the future, its investors could migrate to ADA and MATIC instead.
Context of Solana Hacks
Initially, Solana provided an incentive that potentially made it the “better Ethereum.” In February 2022, hackers breached the Solana Wormhole Bridge, costing $321 million. On August 3 of this year. Slope and Phantom, both SOL-based wallets, were drained off $7 million. A CNBC report regarding analytics from Elliptic said,
“Nearly 8,000 digital wallets have been drained of just over $5.2 million in digital coins, including Solana’s SOL token and USD Coin (USDC).”
Crypto pundits saw these incidents as contributions to the 2022 “crypto winter.” The cyber attacks on Solana showed that the platform was not as robust as the developers said, so experts now lean towards its most vigorous competitors, Cardano and Polygon.
Why Crypto Experts Believe ADA and MATIC are Better
While Solana was the best-performing altcoin among the three, analysts speculate that Cardano and Polygon are just waiting for the right opportunity to strike. Even if ADA did not have a significant profit boost in 2021, the developers were hard at work, delivering better blockchain security for the future of Web3. Meanwhile, that same year, Polygon continuously tested its Plasma Bridge with the help of paid white-hat hackers.
According to a Zycrypto report, “Per data from Atlas, the Solana ecosystem suffered five separate hacks, resulting in a combined loss of $397M in Q1 2022 alone. Although Solana did not record the highest figure – as ETH was exploited 18 times resulting in losses amounting to $636M – the assertion that both ADA and MATIC are more secure sounds logical, as MATIC was only hacked once, and ADA was not on the list at all.”
The following includes critical points that make Cardano and Polygon potentially strong candidates in the race in which the Web3 project reigns supreme.
Cardano
- More energy-efficient than Ethereum
- Can process 1 million transactions per second (with more upgrades)
- Basho-scaling: introduces sidechains interoperable with the main Cardano chain
- Eventually turns into an autonomous decentralized system when governance enters
- Facilitates permissionless networks without large energy needed
Polygon
- Stripe Connect streamlines payments between creators and buyers
- Includes dynamic adaption for future crypto regulations
- Minimal carbon footprint emissions of 90,645 T/CO2e on average
- Exclusive Invicti scanner for proof-based scanning
- Multiple scaling mechanisms allow faster and safer transactional throughput
While Solana still holds on its own as a strong Layer 1 blockchain, it will need to regain a lot of trust in the hearts of investors and potential buyers. The proof-of-history consensus may work for the SOL network. Still, the recent hack attacks may prove that this “Ethereum killer” will need to adapt to better solutions to keep its top standing in the cryptocurrency race based on market capitalization.
