SOL Jumps 9% as Solana Launches Blinks and Actions

Solana Foundation, a non-profit organization developing the layer-1 Solana blockchain, has launched new products dubbed Solana Actions and blockchain links (blinks). Developed in collaboration with the blockchain protocol Dialect, both features aim to redefine how everyone interacts with the Solana blockchain. Following the news, SOL saw a rapid price surge of over 9%.

How Do They Work?

Solana Actions are application programming interfaces (APIs) that simplify Solana transactions, allowing developers to deploy “units” of their decentralized applications (dApps) on websites, social platforms, and physical QR codes. Blockchain links (blinks) encompass converting on-chain actions into shareable links across any platform that can display a URL.

The Solana Foundation team explained that, with these features, users can vote, donate, mint non-fungible tokens, swap tokens, and make on-chain payments from any website.

The Solana team believes these new functionalities will bring mass adoption to the Solana ecosystem as the L1 blockchain becomes more accessible to more people regardless of their blockchain expertise. Solana Foundation’s Head of Ecosystem Engineering, Jon Wong, echoed this in a statement:

“Access to blockchain protocols has long been isolated to dApps and other wallet-aware tools. Now, Actions and blinks on Solana allow any website and application on the internet to be a distribution point for onchain interactions – furthering the goal of mainstream adoption. These simple-yet-powerful tools bring blockchain to everyone, everywhere by lowering the barriers to entry and paving the way for broader adoption of blockchain-based transactions.”

Top Solana-based platforms, including Phantom, Jupiter, Tensor, Helius, Sanctum, Truffle, and more, have already adopted these features into their ecosystems.

Concerns Over Phishing Exploits

While many users applauded Solana’s new features, some remained sceptical. Their argument is based on the premise that introducing links as a bridge between users’ Solana wallets and dApps will become a new tool for phishing exploiters.

Calming their concerns, the Solana team explained that the functionalities work only after individual users activate the blinks feature from their digital wallets. Additionally, the first set of platforms using blinks, as noted earlier, are credible projects.

Meanwhile, SOL’s value saw a decent 9% increase after the news to $137. This surge comes despite the bearish trends that have enveloped the overall crypto market.