How to use Solana

Solana is a high-performance blockchain known for its fast transaction speeds and low costs. While Solana shares some similarities with other blockchains, it has unique nuances that differentiate it from EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine)-based chains. This guide provides instructions to get started with Solana before using it for crypto-to-fiat (offramp) and fiat-to-crypto (onramp) transactions.

Offramp Solana Address Activation (crypto to fiat)

Before you can conduct any crypto to fiat transaction on Solana, you need to activate your Solana offramp address. First, you need to obtain the Solana offramp address (or Unblock Solana wallet) of your user using the corresponding endpoint. Note that the creation of the offramp Solana address is triggered the first time you call this endpoint for the Solana chain.

The endpoint provides the offramp address and its activation status (added in release 2.1.1), which, unlike all other currently supported chain offramp addresses, will be inactive initially.

Initially, any Solana offramp address will be inactive (i.e., it will not exist on the chain), and you need to deposit a certain amount of SOL tokens to make it rent-exempt (read more about Solana account model and rent )

Steps to get started:

1. Retrieve the offramp address: Use the endpoint to retrieve Solana offramp address and check its active status.
2. Check the current exemption requirements Get the current requirements for rent exemption. Since the created (retrieved) offramp address does not hold any data (the data size is 0), you can quickly check the rent exemption requirements using one of following methods

• Solana CLI:

solana rent 0

Example response:

Rent-exempt minimum: 0.00079087 SOL

• JavaScript Client for Solana

const { Connection, clusterApiUrl, LAMPORTS_PER_SOL } = require('@solana/web3.js');
const connection = new Connection(clusterApiUrl('mainnet-beta'), 'confirmed');

(async () => {
  const minBalance = await connection.getMinimumBalanceForRentExemption(0);
  console.log(`Rent-exempt minimum: ${minBalance / LAMPORTS_PER_SOL} SOL`);
})();

3. Transfer SOL tokens: Transfer the required amount of SOL to the offramp address.
4. Confirm activation: Use the same endpoint to verify that the offramp address status has changed to active.

Once the offramp address is active you can use it for Crypto-to-Fiat Transactions in Solana Network.

Target Solana Address (fiat to crypto)

Existing users should update their account information by specifying their target Solana address (to receive the crypto funds) in the request parameters using the relevant endpoint for either individuals or corporates.
For new users, target Solana address can be specified directly in the create user endpoint request. Ensure that the solana target address you specify is rent-exempt.

Steps to get started:

1. Setup target Solana address: Use individual or corporate endpoint to add (update) your Solana target address,
2. Ensure the address is rent exempt Use Solana blockchain explorer, CLI or Javascript client to get your account info and check if your target address is rent exempt before proceeding.
3. Update token preferences Update your token preferences for Solana using the corresponding endpoint for either individual or corporate entities

After successfully setting up and activating the Solana target address you are ready to do your first fiat to crypto transaction in Solana network.

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Note: The account rent exemption is required for all transactions on the Solana network. Without it, transactions will fail, and users may lose crypto funds.