Solana (SOL) Rises with AscendEX and OKEx Partnerships
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The Solana ecosystem gets a $20 million developmental boost from OKEx-owned Block Dream Fund and connects with AscendEX.
AscendEX exchange announced on March 26 that it launched support for operations over the Solana Program Library, or SPL. AscendEX users now deposit and withdraw SRM, USDT, USDC, FIDA, MAPS and OXY.
The announcement continues a pattern of good news flow for Solana. The market response has kept SOL rising. The coin is up 15.9% for the past 24 hours and sits just below an ATH of $19.22. The coin reached this ATH on March 28.
$20 million for Development
Solana tweeted on March 26 that Block Dream Fund launched a $20 million fund focused on the project. The fund hopes to support the massive expansion of the ecosystem in 2021. In the past month, the team notes, over 50 “market-read projects” launched on the platform.
Together with the Block Dream Fund, @OKEx has joined hands with @solana to take things to the next level.
Here's how we're planning to empower & expand growth & development in the Solana ecosystem
— OKEx (@OKEx) March 26, 2021
Together with the Block Dream Fund, 
Solana Raydium
Solana is a blockchain platform designed to take on ETH in the institutional finance market. For example, the platform is the underpinning for Serum, a derivatives exchange. It also includes Raydium, an automated market maker. As of February, Raydium had already seen over $1 billion in volume.
The platform attracted interest quickly, and plans already exist for building out SushiSwap onto Solana. It is one of the ways SushiSwap is looking to work around the high fees on ETH.
Dream a Block Dream Dream
Projects like the Solana – SushiSwap integration are what attracted Block Dream Fund in the first place. OKEx set aside $100 million for Block Dream Fund. The Fund’s remit, to “empower talented entrepreneurs and exceptional projects innovating with blockchain technology,” makes the two a good fit.
“We are delighted to partner with Solana Foundation and look forward to working together to empower high-quality projects and accompany their development,” said Dora, the Founder of Block Dream Fund.
Rise of an ETH Killer?
Solana is attracting attention because ETH transactions have become expensive with the rise in popularity. Coin Metrics shows that ETH blocks have become fuller since the beginning of 2020. The rise in DeFi in particular has affected transaction costs.
Is there Room for Solana?
The first platforms to be called “ETH Killers” included established projects such TRON. Newer ones such as Polkadot, tried to encompass ETH as much as replace it. However, Polkadot has a mass consumer approach that, while very powerful, lacks the focus on institutions that Solana does. Perhaps, before ETH launches sharding, the market will have splintered on its own.
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