By Scott CooperUpdated on October 1, 2025
The Blockchain world has no shortage of contestants, but in 2025 a name seems to dominate the headlines over and over again: Solana. Once canceled during the 2022 market recession, Solana has organized an impressive return. Now, with the adoption of Solana by PayPal and the giants of payments such as Stripe Intepting or Experimenting with the network, the question is no longer if Solana is relevant, but if it could become the next Ethereum in terms of adoption.
Why do Paypal and Stripe care about Solana?
Both PayPal and Stripe built their reputation by making payments faster and easier for consumers and merchants. So why choose Solana? The answer is in three words: speed, cost, scalability.
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Transaction speed: Solana can process thousands of transactions per second (TPS), rivaling with traditional payment rails as a visa.
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Low rates: With average costs often lower than a penny, it makes sense that micro payments, subscriptions and digital goods.
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Growth ecosystem: From Defi to NFT and Games, Solana offers a wide set of use cases, which makes it attractive to Fintechs who want more than a major book.
When PayPal implemented the support for the Payments of Stablecoin and Stripe, he began to try the blockchain settlement for merchants, Solana emerged as a natural candidate. Both companies bet that users will not tolerate high rates and slow speeds so that cryptography becomes the main current.
The practical advantage of Solana
Ethereum has long been the smart contract platform, but has fought with congestion and gas rates. Capa 2 networks have improved the situation, but add complexity. The adoption of Solana by PayPal highlights the growing use of the real world of the network, and the design of Solana, based on the history test (POH) combined with the stake test (POS), offers a different route: High performance in a single layer.
For developers and companies, this simplicity is important. Instead of worrying about fragmented scale solutions, they can be implemented directly in Solana and still reach millions of users. That is why we have seen an increase in startups, game projects and now payment platforms that explore Solana as their main infrastructure.
Can Solana repeat the Ethereum path?
Ethereum’s rise was fed by three adoption waves:
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ICO BOOM (2017)
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Defi Summer (2020)
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NFT explosion (2021)
Each wave brought new users, developers and capital. The question is if Solana can trigger similar growth cycles.
The signals are promising:
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Stablecoins: With Usd PayPal (Pyusd) and other stablecoins that move in Solana, cross -border payments could be faster and cheaper.
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NFTS and games: Despite Ethereum’s domain, Solana has forged a strong community around digital collectibles and web 3 games.
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DEFI: Protocols such as Jupiter and Marinade have shown that Solana can house a deep liquidity.
In summary, Solana not only follows the steps of Ethereum, but is testing if the payments can become the next case of use of Cryptout Breakout.
Risk factors
Of course, not everything is soft navigation. Solana network interruptions in 2021–2022 damaged their reputation, and critics still question whether they can maintain a time of mass stress. While updates have improved reliability, pressure will only increase as great players like Paypal and Stripe on board more volume.
There is also centralization debate. Solana’s validator requirements are higher than those of Ethereum, which leads to concerns about whether very few entities control the network. For global payment rails, resilience and decentralization are critical.
Why 2025 could be the breaker year of Solana
Several factors converge in 2025 to make this time of Solana:
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Business adoption: Fintechs, exchanges and even some banks are testing solana for liquidation.
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Developer moment: Hackathons and subsidies continue to attract new projects.
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Regulatory clarity: In the United States and the EU, the clearest rules on Stablcoins could unlock a broader payment adoption.
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Retail familiarity: Thanks to Paypal and Stripe, average users can interact with Solana without even realizing.
If Ethereum were the block chain of experimentation, Solana could become the block chain of daily payments.
The biggest image
The entrance of PayPal and Stripe into the Solana ecosystem is not just approximately one chain. A change in the adoption of cryptography is indicated: from speculation to practical utility. When your Uber trip, the transmission subscription or online payment is executed in Solana under the hood, Blockchain finally ceases to be a fashion word and becomes infrastructure.
Ethereum will not disappear: it remains the settlement layer for much of Defi and still orders the largest developer base. But Solana has positioned himself as the payment layer, and that niche could be equally valuable.
Final thoughts
Solana’s resurgence, combined with the validation of Fintech leaders, places it in a unique position in 2025. While the risks remain, the narrative has changed: Solana is no longer just a “Ethereum murderer.” Instead, it is forging its own identity: a block chain built for speed, low rates and real world payments.
For investors, developers and users equally, in the coming years it will reveal if Solana can convert this impulse in the long -term domain. The adoption of Solana by PayPal could be the spark that, together with other integrations such as Stripe, pushes Solana to the mainstream.
