If you had bought SOL-USD in 2023 with $10,000...

Solana is a high-throughput blockchain that launched its main network in March 2020, founded by Anatoly Yakovenko. It combines proof of stake with a timekeeping mechanism called proof of history, which lets validators agree on transaction ordering without waiting on each other, and that design is what allows very low fees and high transaction counts. SOL is the network's native asset, used for fees and staking. The trade-off has been reliability: the network suffered several full or partial outages in 2021 and 2022, each of which was visible in the price. Solana trades continuously like other crypto assets, so its yearly series contains roughly 365 observations.

Solana launched in 2020 and rose sharply through 2021 as low fees pulled NFT and trading activity away from more expensive chains. Its most severe drawdown came in late 2022, when the collapse of FTX - a prominent backer and holder - took the price down by more than 90 percent from its high and raised real questions about the network's survival. The recovery from 2023 onward was driven by renewed application activity and by the network stabilising after its outage-heavy period. Because the asset only began trading in 2020, there is no earlier price history, and scenarios before that year simply do not exist for it.

Solana has the shortest history of the assets here and the most violent one. That makes it the clearest example of why the entry year dominates the outcome: two dates barely a year apart can produce results that differ by an order of magnitude, in both directions.