Cryptocurrency markets have been in the throes of a brutal sell-off since the middle of last year. Investors are trimming their exposure to risk assets in the face of rising economic and political uncertainty, which recently hit a crescendo with the ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. The combined value of all cryptocurrencies in circulation is down 45% from last year’s peak of $4.4 trillion, and no major coins or tokens have avoided the carnage.

Ethereum (ETH 0.06%) is the world’s largest platform for building decentralized software applications, which are popular in industries like gaming and financial services. However, a growing number of developers are turning to the Solana (SOL +1.26%) ecosystem instead, which is a…