The biggest highlight of SOL in this cycle is that it has become a hype platform for meme coins; Ethereum has launched a bunch of "staking, re-staking, and re-staking" projects and a bunch of L2s that lock ETH to earn points, and then go online with a high market value to cut leeks. Apart from hype, there is still no real application of blockchain.
But recently, SOL has launched an innovative feature: Blink, which is expected to change the existing blockchain ecosystem. We can observe whether it can lead the blockchain into a new ecological development field in the future.
Simply put, Blink means that when users watch live broadcasts, web pages, and applications, they can directly embed blockchain links and click to call the wallet to complete payment purchases. Merchants can get commissions, which is similar to the payment experience of web2. This greatly reduces the threshold for users to enter the blockchain.
Let's give you some examples so you can get a more intuitive feel:
Prediction Market
Like HedgeHog, polls have appeared on Twitter. With cryptocurrencies, you can spend your money wisely - predict sports events, predict the outcome of events, or vote for predicted proposals. You can watch and predict directly through the Twitter feed.
Multi-signature Blink in DM
Do you have a multisig with a friend or co-founder and need them to approve a transaction? Just send them a Blink and have them sign directly in the chat.
Games
Like Chomp, Blessed Burgers, make interactive on-chain mini-games and quizzes that get input directly from the user's information stream. In addition, check whether the player is eligible to play the game by checking the NFT in the player's wallet.
NFT Minting and Bidding
Like Degen poet, build a code-free tool that lets anyone create, mint, bid on, and buy NFTs directly from their X feed using Blinks. A no-brainer to build.
Trading in DM
Like Tensor, now every messaging interface can send smart messages with Blinks. Build a no-code tool that enables users to send, buy, and trade memecoin, NFTs, and more directly from chat. Further proof of this is the success of Bonkbot!
Payment request and settlement in DM
Like PayPal, Circle, send, request and settle payments. On-chain Splitwise can be just a group chat with your friends - send or request USDC in the chat, and settle transactions within the chat interface.
Validator Staking
Like Over Clock native staking, if you run a validator, it is now easier to attract liquid staking and native staking, just create a Blink.
GitHub Sponsorship and Tipping
Make a Blink button that lets people tip or sponsor their favorite developers directly in GitHub.
Blink NFT
Similarly, Blinks also allows easy crypto operations with NFTs directly within the wallet. Send, buy, bid, and trade NFTs directly from the wallet interface.
With Blinks, YouTube will become a superpower
The Crypto Super Chat feature allows viewers of YouTube creators to send encrypted Super Chats during live broadcasts and reward creators. Rewards: Allow creators/viewers to create a wallet with their YouTube email ID via Tip Link
Blink + DMs are a match made in Telegram
Anything that can be done in X DM should be done in Telegram DM. Send, receive, trade, mint NFTs, tokens, and more directly from the TG application interface. The user experience is smoother than ever.
In the future, Blinks will allow any application to become a Solana application
For example: shopping directly from live streaming apps, Bountycaster on Twitter, social commerce - buying directly from TikTok or Insta story.
Blinks' developer experience is 10 times better because instead of using an SDK, you can use the API directly, making it easier to create super apps, embed any website, and more.
Of course, there are security risks here. After all, there are too many links on the Internet, and many of them are phishing and fraudulent links. If clicked, they may lead to wallet theft. This needs to be gradually improved.
The largest application scenarios of blockchain are payment, rwa, web3, etc. SOL's Blink is indeed eye-catching, at least allowing users to see real implementation scenarios, while Ethereum is still building various "infrastructures".