$100 put into Solana's coin on 1 July 2022 was worth $29 six months later. By January 2025, the same holding was worth $801. On 6 October 2026, it stood at $369.
Solana is one of three networks this guide compares, with Bitcoin and Ethereum. Each is a blockchain, a shared public record that computers around the world copy and check. This guide sets out what each is for, then compares their returns, swings and worst falls.
What is the difference between Ethereum and Bitcoin? Bitcoin is digital money capped at 21 million coins, while Ethereum runs programs paid for in ether, a coin with no cap. Solana also runs programs, built for fast, low-cost transactions with its uncapped coin (SOL).
From 1 July 2022 to 6 October 2026, Bitcoin rose 345.2%, Solana's coin 269.2% and ether 155.6%. A different start date gives a different order.
Volatility, the size of price swings, was 47.7% a year for Bitcoin, 66.0% for ether and 89.3% for Solana. A fund tracking 500 large US companies swung 16.1%.
The three move together. On the 38 days when Bitcoin fell 5% or more, Solana's coin fell on every one. Ether fell on 37.
Ethereum vs Bitcoin vs Solana: what each network is for
Bitcoin (BTC) started in January 2009 as digital money with no central bank. Computers called miners add a block of payments about every 10 minutes. Supply is capped at 21 million coins. See What Is Bitcoin?
Ethereum is a blockchain that also runs programs, called smart contracts. Its coin, ether (ETH), pays the fee for every action on the network. A new block is added every 12 seconds. What Is Ethereum? covers smart contracts and fees.
Solana runs smart contracts too, with its coin (SOL) paying the fees. Solana.com calls it "a high-performance network" built for fast, low-cost transactions. From 18 August to 7 October 2026, it averaged one slot, a turn to add a block, about every 0.3 seconds.
Solana's base fee is 5,000 lamports per signature, according to solana.com. A lamport is one-billionth of a SOL. At the 6 October 2026 close of $120.68 a coin, that fee was about $0.0006.
Ethereum and Solana use proof of stake, where holders lock up coins as a deposit to check new blocks. Bitcoin uses proof of work, where miners race with computing power.
Bitcoin (BTC) | Ether (ETH) | Solana (SOL) | |
|---|---|---|---|
Main use | Digital currency | Runs smart contracts; ether pays the fees | Runs smart contracts; SOL pays the fees |
How blocks are added | Proof of work (mining) | Proof of stake, since 15 September 2022 | Proof of stake |
Time between blocks | About 10 minutes | 12 seconds | About 0.3 seconds |
Supply rule | Capped at 21 million | No cap; part of each fee is burned | No cap; new SOL at 3.61% a year, falling to 1.5% |
Market value, 7 October 2026 | $1.68 trillion | $313.5 billion | $68.3 billion |
US spot funds began trading | 11 January 2024 | 23 July 2024 | 28 October 2025 |
Source: bitcoin.org; ethereum.org; solana.com and Solana network data; SEC filings
The table sets the three side by side.
Supply rules and outages: how the networks differ
New coins arrive at different speeds. At today's reward of 3.125 new bitcoins a block, Bitcoin's supply grows about 0.82% a year. Ether's supply has grown about 0.32% a year since September 2022. Part of every ether fee is burned, meaning destroyed for good, according to ethereum.org.
Solana's supply has no cap. Its docs set an inflation rate for new SOL that started at 8% a year. Each year the rate is cut by 15% of its level, until it reaches 1.5%.
The schedule counts its years in network time, as runs of blocks. Blocks were slower than planned in earlier years, so network time has run behind the calendar, according to Helius, a Solana infrastructure firm.
On 7 October 2026, the network reported the rate at 3.61%. That matches about 4.9 network years, against 5.7 calendar years since the schedule began in February 2021. Half of each Solana base fee is also burned.
Solana has also stopped producing blocks more than once. Helius counts seven outages from December 2020 to February 2024. The longest, in February 2023, lasted almost 19 hours.
Three of those outages fell between July 2022 and October 2026: in September 2022, February 2023 and February 2024. The latest began on 6 February 2024 and lasted about 5 hours, according to Solana's status page. It lists no later outage, as checked on 7 October 2026.
Market value of Bitcoin, ether and Solana
Market value is the price of one coin times the number of coins in circulation. On 7 October 2026, CoinGecko, a crypto data site, put Bitcoin's at $1.68 trillion. Ether's was $313.5 billion, while Solana's was $68.3 billion.
So Bitcoin's market value was about 5 times ether's and about 25 times Solana's. Bitcoin made up 58.8% of the value of all cryptocurrencies that CoinGecko tracks. Ether made up 11.0% and Solana 2.4%.
Bitcoin vs ether vs Solana returns since July 2022
Source: YX Insights
The chart shows what $100 put into each coin on 1 July 2022 was worth each day, to 6 October 2026. The scale is logarithmic, so equal heights show equal % changes. By the end, Bitcoin's $100 was worth $445. Solana's was worth $369, while ether's was worth $256.
Those are rises of 345.2% for Bitcoin, 269.2% for Solana and 155.6% for ether. As steady yearly rates, they are 41.9%, 35.8% and 24.6%.
Solana's $100 fell to $29 on 29 December 2022, weeks after the crypto exchange FTX filed for bankruptcy on 11 November 2022. Solana's coin then rose 919.9% in 2023, before losing 34.1% in 2025.
The start date changes the order. From 1 January 2023, Solana rose 1,108.4%, against 415.0% for Bitcoin. From 1 January 2024, Bitcoin rose 93.5%, while ether rose 14.7% and Solana 9.6%.
Volatility and worst falls: Bitcoin vs ether vs Solana
Volatility measures how widely a price swings from day to day, scaled to a year. We explain it in What Is Volatility? Crypto trades every day, so the yearly figure uses 365 days.
A worst fall is the largest drop from a high to a later low, measured inside the period. What Is a Drawdown? explains the method.
The next chart adds SPY (the S&P 500 exchange-traded fund, or ETF) for comparison. An ETF is a fund that trades on a stock exchange like a share. The S&P 500 is an index of 500 large US companies.
Source: YX Insights
The chart covers 1 July 2022 to 6 October 2026. Bitcoin swung the least of the three, at 47.7% a year. Ether swung 66.0% and Solana 89.3%.
SPY swung 16.1%. Stock markets close at weekends, so its yearly figure uses 252 trading days.
The worst falls ran in the same order:
Bitcoin: 53.1%, from 6 October 2025 to 30 June 2026.
Ether: 67.6%, from 22 August 2025 to 25 June 2026.
Solana: 79.3%, from 13 August 2022 to 29 December 2022. Solana got back to that high on 10 November 2023.
Solana also fell 76.3% from 18 January 2025 to 6 June 2026. SPY's worst fall in the period was 18.8%, to 8 April 2025.
All three had their worst single day on 9 November 2022, two days before FTX filed for bankruptcy. Bitcoin fell 14.3%, ether 16.9% and Solana 42.4%.
Do Bitcoin, ether and Solana move together?
Correlation measures how closely two prices move together. It runs from 1, for moving in perfect step, to −1, for moving in opposite directions. A reading of 0 means no link.
Over the whole period, ether's daily returns had a correlation of 0.83 with Bitcoin's. Solana's with Bitcoin was 0.75, while Solana's with ether was 0.73.
Source: YX Insights
The chart shows the correlation with Bitcoin over each past 90 days. Ether's 90-day reading ranged from 0.67 to 0.96. Solana's fell as low as 0.52 at the end of 2023, during its big rally. On 6 October 2026, the 90-day readings were 0.87 for ether and 0.83 for Solana.
The link held on bad days. Bitcoin fell 5% or more on 38 days. Solana fell on all of them, while ether fell on 37.
On those days, Bitcoin's mean fall was 6.7%, while ether's was 7.9% and Solana's 9.4%. So holding all three gave little shelter when Bitcoin fell hard.
How to compare Bitcoin, ether and Solana
Check the start date. Solana led from January 2023 but trailed from January 2024.
Read the worst fall with the return. Bitcoin made the most with the smallest fall in this period. Solana made more than ether, but fell further.
Do not count on spreading risk. The three fell together on Bitcoin's worst days.
Look at the network as well as the price. Outages, supply rules and fees differ.
Bitcoin is built as capped digital money, while Ethereum and Solana run programs with uncapped coins. All three rose from July 2022 to October 2026. Bitcoin swung the least while Solana swung the most. On bad days, the three fell together.
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Common questions about Bitcoin vs Ethereum
Is Ethereum better than Bitcoin?
Neither is better in general, because they do different jobs. Bitcoin is capped digital money, while Ethereum runs programs called smart contracts. From 1 July 2022 to 6 October 2026, Bitcoin rose 345.2% and ether 155.6%. Ether also swung more, with volatility of 66.0% a year against 47.7%.
Is Solana faster than Ethereum?
Yes. Solana averaged one block slot about every 0.3 seconds from August to October 2026, while Ethereum adds a block every 12 seconds. Bitcoin adds one about every 10 minutes. Solana has also had outages: Helius counts seven from December 2020 to February 2024, the latest on 6 February 2024.
Are Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana correlated?
Yes, strongly. From July 2022 to October 2026, the correlation of daily returns with Bitcoin was 0.83 for ether and 0.75 for Solana. On the 38 days when Bitcoin fell 5% or more, Solana fell every time. Ether fell on 37 of them.
When did spot Bitcoin and ether ETFs start?
Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) began trading on 11 January 2024, the day after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved them. Spot ether ETFs were approved on 23 May 2024 and began trading on 23 July 2024. Each holds the coin itself and trades on a stock exchange like a share.
Is there a Solana ETF?
Yes. US spot Solana ETFs, which hold the coin itself, began trading in late October 2025. One was listed on 28 October 2025, according to its SEC filings. Its issuer called it the first US spot Solana fund. They were listed under generic listing standards the SEC approved on 17 September 2025, with no approval order of their own. A fund holding SOL partly through a subsidiary launched earlier, on 2 July 2025.
DISCLAIMER: This article is strictly educational. Any information or analysis in this note is not an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. Nothing in this note is intended to be investment advice and nor should it be relied upon to make investment decisions. Any opinions, analyses, or probabilities expressed in this note are those of the author as of the note's date of publication and are subject to change without notice.