San Francisco, CA – April 6, 2025 — Before it became one of the most influential and fastest blockchains in the world, Solana was known by a different name: SOLIX. While the name Solana has become synonymous with high-speed transactions and developer innovation, early insiders and archival documents reveal that the project initially operated under the codename SOLIX during its stealth development phase between 2017 and 2018.
This lesser-known chapter in the blockchain’s history highlights the evolutionary branding and strategic positioning that ultimately shaped the identity of what is now a multi-billion-dollar ecosystem.
Why “SOLIX”?
The name SOLIX was chosen by the original team — led by former Qualcomm engineer Anatoly Yakovenko — to reflect the project’s dual focus: “SOL” for speed and solar energy, and “IX” as a nod to infrastructure and the Roman numeral for 9, symbolizing technical excellence and the ambition to be a top-10 protocol.
“We were building a high-performance chain for global scale,” one early contributor explained anonymously. “SOLIX captured that futuristic, technical feel. It sounded fast, precise, and mission-driven — almost like a code name for a spacecraft.”
The branding even included an early-stage logo: a modular "S" built from digital blocks — a motif later retained and refined in the official Solana brand identity.
The Shift to “Solana”
As the team moved from prototype to launch, advisors urged a rebranding to something more accessible and human-centric. The name Solana was eventually chosen, inspired by Solana Beach, California, where Yakovenko had spent time during his early career.
The switch was driven by marketing considerations, including:
Global pronunciation: “Solana” was easier to pronounce across languages.
Emotional appeal: It evoked openness, light, and community.
Brand differentiation: It stood apart from other tech-sounding crypto names.
The transition was finalized in early 2018, shortly before the team began publicizing their Proof of History consensus model — a core innovation that allowed Solana to reach unmatched throughput without sacrificing decentralization.
SOLIX Lives On
Although SOLIX never saw a public release under that name, the term still appears in internal development repositories, GitHub branches, and early whiteboard sketches photographed during the project’s incubation.
Some community members have even proposed resurrecting the name for Solana testnets, dev tools, or spin-off ventures — citing its sleek, almost sci-fi tone that resonates with crypto's early builder culture.
A Curious “What If”
The story of SOLIX is a reminder that branding, while often secondary to technology in early development, plays a crucial role in adoption. Had Solana launched under its original moniker, would it have captured the same mainstream attention? Would NFT collections like DeGods or platforms like Magic Eden feel the same under the SOLIX banner?
“It’s hard to say,” reflects blockchain historian Miguel Lopez. “But like Ethereum almost being called ‘Etherium,’ or Google originally being ‘Backrub,’ it’s clear that naming is never just cosmetic — it’s cultural.”
