Top 10 Solana DeFi DApps

What is Solana?

Solana is a fourth-generation blockchain and cryptocurrency that is known for its lightning-fast, high-performance network. Solana was developed as a DApp platform like Ethereum, Polkadot and Cardano and can support smart contracts and Decentralized Applications (DApps). It uses a Proof-of-Stake mechanism with a low barrier to entry along with timestamped transactions (Proof-of-History) to maximize efficiency.

Solana has the ability to process over 50,000 transactions per second (TPS) while providing a highly secure environment for its users. The high TPS along with scalability makes it ideal in terms of creating Decentralized Finance (DeFi) projects including yield farming protocols, liquidity mining protocols, Decentralized Exchanges (DEX) and staking platforms. The lightning-fast processing times and low fees have garnered a lot of attention from small-time users and enterprise customers alike.

Top Solana DApps

1. Raydium

Raydium is an on-chain Automated Market Maker (AMM) and liquidity provider that enables lightning-fast trades, shared liquidity and other new features for earning yield. The protocol is built on the Solana blockchain for the Serum DEX, providing on-chain liquidity to Serum’s central limit order book. The protocol acts as a bridge for projects looking to expand to Solana and Serum. In the long term, Raydium aims to capture and maintain a leadership position among AMMs and liquidity providers on Serum.  

2. SolFarm

SolFarm is a decentralized yield aggregation platform built on Solana with auto-compounding vault strategies. The DApp is designed to take advantage of Solana’s low-cost, high-efficiency blockchain, allowing the vault strategies to compound frequently. The auto-compounding used by SolFarm will generate the optimal yield with efficient time intervals between harvests. The users of SolFarm will be able to deposit their funds and sit back while the vaults do the hard work. This allows users to benefit from higher APYs without requiring active management.  

3. Mango Markets

Mango Markets is a decentralized, cross-margin trading platform with up to 5x leverage and integrated limit orders on Serum’s on-chain order book. Mango offers a trading hub for spot markets, lending and perpetual futures. It sources liquidity from its own pools as well as from Serum. Users can also contribute SRM tokens into a shared pool to reduce the fees for all traders on the platform. With lightning-fast transactions and near-zero fees, Mango harnesses the power of both Solana and Serum.          

4. Saber

Saber is a leading cross-chain Automated Market Maker (AMM) optimized for trading stablecoin pairs on Solana. Saber provides the liquidity foundation for stablecoins. Being Solana’s core cross-chain liquidity network, Saber helps facilitate the transfer of assets between Solana and other DApp platforms. Market makers deposit crypto into a Saber liquidity pool to earn yield from transaction fees, token-based incentives and automated DeFi strategies.

5. Serum

Serum is a Decentralized Exchange (DEX) and an ecosystem that is built on Solana. The DApp is a complete, non-custodial spot and derivatives exchange. It offers a decentralized automated full limit order book that provides traders with full control over each order. Serum supports a wide range of functions including cross-chain asset swaps, decentralized stablecoins, decentralized oracles and non-custodial wrapped tokens. And the cross-chain swaps available on Serum allow users to exchange assets between blockchains.  

6. Step Finance

Step Finance is a portfolio visualization platform that aggregates all liquidity pools, tokens, farms and positions that are connected to a wallet. The DApp displays all the information on an easy-to-use dashboard with various useful metrics and visualizations. The users will be able to visualize, execute and aggregate transactions across all contracts and products on the Solana ecosystem. Users of Step can also execute swaps and enter various yield farms and automated vaults within Step.       

7. Star Atlas

Star Atlas is a blockchain-based, space exploration game that is built on Solana. It provides a unique metaverse gaming experience by combining blockchain mechanics with traditional game mechanics. Players of Star Atlas can engage in space combats, build intergalactic commercial hubs, exert political influence and much more, all the while earning cryptocurrency on the Solana blockchain. Star Atlas will provide the players the opportunity to realize economic benefits through the extraction of in-game virtual earnings into real-world income.   

8. Bonfida

Bonfida is a full product suite that bridges the gap between Serum, Solana and users. The DApp not only was the first one to build a seamless GUI and bring the first Solana data analytics for Serum but also was the first one to provide Bonfida name service. They also launched the first on-chain perpetual futures on Solana. Bonfida aims to be a single source of data truth in the cryptocurrency industry. Bonfida can also handle an array of data aggregation and visualizationwhich has proved to be popular amongst crypto traders who don’t typically have the means to parse this data themselves.  

9. Orca

Orca is a Decentralized Exchange (DEX) built on Solana and is focussed on providing a user-friendly experience. It is one of the most accessible places to exchange cryptocurrencies on the Solana blockchain. Orca promises to provide a more straightforward, more human-centred experience for the traders on Solana. Users can swap assets, provide liquidity and earn yield through an easy-to-use interface. Orca is one of the first general-purpose AMMs launched on Solana and also functions as an aggregator.          

10. Oxygen

Oxygen is a DeFi prime brokerage service built on Solana and powered by Serum’s on-chain infrastructure. The DApp was designed to cater to the needs of DeFi applications and users. Oxygen provides an array of financial services such as borrow-lending, derivatives and margin trading, yield generation and structured products. Oxygen provides users a more efficient way to manage capital.   

Other Solana DApps

• Mercurial
• SolanArt
• Francium
• SolRise
• Phantom
• Chainlink