Circle is rolling out support for the Solana blockchain across its Web3 services, enabling features such as programmable wallets and gas stations.

The integration will take place in two phases. According to an announcement on June 12, the first phase will focus on programmable wallets — allowing developers to automatically manage assets based on predefined rules — and sponsored transaction fees via its gas station feature.

The second stage will include support for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and program interactions through Smart Contract Platform, said Circle. The move will align Solana with other blockchains already supported by Circle’s Web3 services, such as Ethereum, Polygon and Avalanche.

Programmable Wallets can be configured to interact with smart contracts automatically. This means that tasks typically requiring manual execution, such as executing transactions when certain conditions are met, can be automated.

Other companies focusing on programmability for wallets on Solana include Fuse Wallet, as per an announcement on June 10. Based on smart accounts, the wallet supports programmability and promises to solve dependence on seed phrases, limited options for asset recovery, and restricted customization of rules and parameters for onchain interactions.

Solana in 2024

Over the past months, Solana has seen an increase in activity and several integrations with other protocols. The number of active addresses on the Solana blockchain reached its all-time high in May at 41.5 million, according to Hello Moon. 

“The Solana developer community has witnessed remarkable growth,” Circle said about the reasons to support the blockchain. 

To keep up with the growing demand, the network has been preparing for major improvements, including the Firedancer upgrade slated for 2025. This upgrade promised to enhance Solana’s scalability and eliminate the network’s downtime. In a recent outage, Solana was down for nearly five hours.

“One thing is there’s a big focus for us on getting Firedancer live,” said Solana Foundation’s DePIN lead, Kuleen Nimkar, in a recent interview with Cointelegraph. Solana’s independent validator client is being developed with Jump Crypto.

PayPal was one of the latest companies to support Solana’s ecosystem. The fintech company integrated its stablecoin, PayPal USD (PYUSD), on May 29 in an effort to make it more useful for daily transactions.

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