solana – Pastel

NFT Sports Cards Explained (Read Before Buying)

Posted on April 13, 2023March 28, 2023 by Anthony Georgiades

It seems only yesterday when headlines of sports trading cards selling for millions of dollars spotlighted the lucrative world of collectible cards.

To recap the highest flying sales:

A 1952 Topps SGC 9.5 Mickey Mantle card sold for $12.6 million
A T206 SGC 2 Honus Wagner sold for $7.25 million
The LeBron James 2003-04 Rookie Patch Auto sold for $5.2 million.
Patrick Mahomes 2017 Rookie Auto BGS 8.5 sold for $4.3 million.
Luka Doncic 1:1 Logoman Auto sold for $4.6 million

And the list goes on, often to the incredulity of the average person still digesting the idea that even classical art can fetch multi-million dollar price tags.

Throw NFTs, these intangible digital collectibles, into the mix, and it seems people’s incredulity grows to almost shocked disbelief.

NFT sports cards were inevitable– attach the high value placed on limited edition collectible cards to a 24/7/365 digital marketplace, and you’ve got a powerful combination.

The following guide explores the ins and outs of NFT sports cards.

NFT Sports Cards 101: A Quick Summary of NFTs

To best understand how NFT sports cards work, it’s essential to firmly grasp the NFT concept.

A non-fungible token is a cryptocurrency that is unlike any other– hence its non-fungibility.

For most practical purposes, one bitcoin will always equal one bitcoin, in the same way, one quarter will always equal one quarter.

However, let’s say we have two houses with identical floorplans– but one is on the beach, and the other is in a regular suburb. In most markets, the beachfront house might be worth triple or even ten times the amount of its less-breezy twin.

Similarly, the NFT token standard enables tokens to hold unique characteristics– which are priced accordingly by the market.

The holder of the NFT owns what is essentially the deed to the digital trading card and can sell it whenever.

In more technical terms, the NFT owner holds the token in a cryptocurrency wallet; their private key is what signals to the blockchain that they are the owner of the wallet and its contents, enabling them to trade as they please.

There are no physical tokens or coins that represent the NFT– it’s all digital, and your private key is what communicates your ownership of the NFT.

Exploring the NFT Sports Card World

Today’s most popular NFT sports card platforms are essentially the issuers of a specific collection.

For example, NBA Top Shot is the officially licensed platform of NBA collectibles. NBA Top Shot project took the cryptocurrency world by storm when Dapper Labs launched it in October 2020, introducing many of its crypto-savvy collectors to the future of NFTs.

Dapper Labs is also known for its viral CryptoKitties project in 2017, seeing several CryptoKitties reach six-figure sales.

In addition to NBA Top Shot, Dapper Labs also has NFL All Day and UFC Strike.

In just a few short months, NBA Top Shot attracted over $123 million in sales. In 2022, NBA Top Shot Labs reached over $1.03 billion in secondary market trades.

Dapper Labs takes a 5% royalty fee on secondary NFT sales of its marketplace; so, in theory, Dapper Labs made about $50,000,000 from its users trading its NFTs with each other.

In contrast to physical sports cards, NFT sports cards are able to include additional rarity features; NBA Top Shot uses different tiers like Legendary, Rare, Fandom, and Common.

NBA Top Shot introduced the most polished NFT sports experience in 2020, paving the road for several new NFT sports card marketplaces today.

SoRare is a competing NFT marketplace and issuer that initially started with football (of the round ball sort) NFTs, and has expanded to MBA and MLB NFTs.

However, in addition to purely holding SoRare cards for collection’s sake, collectors can play in twice-weekly global competitions or against friends in private leagues. Using the cards for their collections, players can submit either five-player lineups (for football & NBA) or a seven-player lineup (MLB) in free competitions.

SoRare players can also earn rewards such as digital player cards, merchandise, match tickets, ETH, or even meeting their star athletes– all based on their squad’s real-life performance– similar to a fantasy league.

NFT Sports Cards: Considerations

Chances are that one top question in your head comes from this line of logic: well, if seemingly anyone can launch an NFT, wouldn’t the market just become supersaturated with NFT sports cards, basically commoditizing the asset class?

Correct. However, this isn’t much different from how real-life companies can start pumping out specific trading cards, provided they have adequate licensing and legal agreements with the organizations.

Similarly, sports organizations tend to sign non-exclusive licensing agreements with NFT platforms– similar to how SoRare and NBA Top Shot are competing companies offering NBA NFTs. However, SoRare offers a gaming aspect, whereas NBA Top Shot seems to be strictly collection-oriented.

We can expect to see more NFT sports card marketplaces and issuers arise with different functionalities.

Autograph, for example, is a platform that enables famous athletes and celebrities to turn their real-life experiences into NFTs, giving them a direct link to add personal touches to the digital collectibles distributed to fans.

Rather than a simple static image or . GIF, Autograph NFTs are typically customized high-graphic digital representations, such as interactive posters, digital action figures of iconic game highlights, and more.

The Autograph team counts a star-studded array of celebrity athlete partners, like Tom Brady, Simone Biles, Tiger Woods, Derek Jeter, Wayne Gretzky, and Tony Hawk.

However, NFTs come with additional considerations their physical counterparts don’t.

For one, the underlying blockchain adds another distinctive category type. While the bulk of NFT sports cards (in terms of market share, volume, and popularity) are on Ethereum’s blockchain, there are competitors emerging on blockchains like Solana, Polygon, Flow, and even Cardano.

Final Thoughts: The Future of NFT Sports Cards

Bear or bull market, the underlying value proposition of NFT sports cards remains the same– collect digital assets representing your favorite athletes similar to how you’d collect physical cards.

With a few billion dollars in primary and secondary volume, NFT sports cards are a smaller yet still dominant representation of NFT’s potential.

It’s not a stretch to assume we’re in the early innings of how far NFT sports cards can go; platforms like NBA Top Shot, SoRare, and Autograph have raised and are implementing over a billion dollars of cumulative funding to build their NFT offering

However, potential NFT sports cards holders should be mindful their digital holdings come with more nuanced responsibilities, such as protecting your holdings from hackers (and yourself) with adequate cryptocurrency wallet security and digital hygiene– as well as the underlying risks of the very risky cryptocurrency world.

NFT Royalties Explained: What Are They & How Do They Work

Posted on March 30, 2023March 28, 2023 by Anthony Georgiades

NFT royalties are payments sent to the creator of an NFT each time it is resold on the secondary market. NFT royalties function similarly to traditional royalties. In business, for example, the owner of a product receives a percentage of the sales or profits.

In the case of NFTs, the creator can set the royalty percentage during the minting of the NFT.

So, while NFT royalties make it possible for an artist to earn recurring revenue on their work (as long as it’s being re-sold in secondary markets), they’ve been a point of dispute for the various parties.

The following guide explores how NFT royalties work and more.

How Do NFT Royalties Work?

NFT royalties are calculated as a percentage of the sales price specified by the creator. However, this is not a standardized method as each NFT marketplace, like OpenSea and LooksRare, will use different smart contracts to calculate and handle NFT royalties. If the royalty fee calculation ends in a remainder, it can be rounded up or down to 5 or 10 percent.

Royalties apply to almost any type of NFT, whether physical or digital. These can be in-game items and collectibles from blockchain games, artwork, PFPs, tokenized music albums, videos, etc.

The underlying smart contract makes sure the process of each secondary sale is carried out accordingly, depending on the platform. After the sale is verified, the smart contract reserves a percentage, delivering it to the creator’s cryptocurrency wallet. The currency of payment is usually the one supported by the platform. For example, OpenSea supports Ethereum and Polygon, an Ethereum sidechain, so the internal economy runs using ETH.

The percentage of the price sale is pre-defined by the creator, typically 5% – 10%, and this is predefined in the minting stage. So, whenever you buy an NFT directly from the person or project who created it, and then you re-sell it, 5% or 10% of that secondary sale goes to the creator. It’s similar to a company’s shares being traded in the stock market after being sold in an Initial Public Offering (IPO).

An NFT will have a royalty percentage fixed. Some people may think that royalties fluctuate with the market; it’s actually the sale price of the NFT that varies through time and therefore causes variations in the amount of profits creators receive. Price fluctuation will depend on multiple factors, most commonly: market demand, scarcity, and utility.

Why Are NFT Royalties Important?

NFT royalties are a way for digital creators to capitalize on the value of their work through secondary sales. No matter who owns the NFT, a smart contract will ensure the creator receives its fair share.

It’s not just about the minting price; NFT royalties are an appealing (and necessary) source of income for creators. Last year, over $1.8 billion worth of royalties were paid out to creators of Ethereum-based NFTs.

Depending on how well an NFT or a collection is sold, royalties can generate a substantial amount of profits in the long run. In 2021, Beeple, a popular NFT artist, launched an NFT artwork called Crossroads and received around $6.6 million in royalties.

Pros and Cons of Royalties

NFT royalties, while at first glance can be a simple concept, have become a frustrating topic for marketplaces, creators, and buyers; all clashing on how to properly define the sale process so each party benefits somehow. This caused marketplaces and NFT platforms to devise and employ new royalty methods, such as optional creator earnings (explored in the section below).

First, NFT royalties allow artists to generate passive income while their work is being sold in secondary markets. It also gives creators an idea of how much value their NFT is garnering through time. The more popularity it acquires in the market, the creator’s reputation strengthens —most likely.

In the case of Beeple, for example, “Everydays – The First 5000 Days” became the artist’s most well-known work of art, selling for $69 million. His subsequent work didn’t need much promotion as he already established a name in the community, helping him profit millions in royalties from secondary sales.

The cons of NFT royalties would be the price volatility —digital creators cannot expect a steady stream of income from royalties as NFT prices could (and most likely will) fluctuate in short periods of time.

Also, some NFT traders that want to speculate resales don’t like the idea of paying a fair share to creators. In 2022, some NFT marketplaces like X2Y2 eliminated royalties from their platforms and instead enforced optional royalties, which outraged digital artists and caused a sharp decline in trading volume.

Optional Royalties

Optional royalties, or optional creator earnings, allow NFT owners to choose whether or not they want to pay creators a percentage each time they sell their NFTs. In 2023, several NFT marketplaces jumped on this trend, like OpenSea and LooksRare.

LooksRare eliminated default royalties and now grants optional royalties. This means buyers can choose to pay royalties at checkout, making NFT trading more profitable. However, the platform distributes 25% of platform fees to creators and collection owners.

Other NFT marketplaces can provide different types of NFT royalty systems. For example, Ditto Music allows fans to acquire shares in songs from their favorite bands and get paid monthly royalties via Bluebox, the company’s blockchain platform.

Popular NFT Marketplaces Offering Royalties

Not all NFT marketplaces offer NFT royalties. Here’s a quick list of the most popular platforms with the best royalties:

OpenSea: the largest NFT marketplace by volume, offers optional royalties with 0.5% as the minimum for the creator.

LooksRare: offers optional royalties, while creators will automatically receive 25% of trading fees.

Nifty Gateway: enforced royalties; the marketplace takes 5% of the sale price plus 30 cents to cover credit card processing fees.

Rarible: enforced royalties; the marketplace takes 1% on the seller side and 1% from the buyer side for service fees.

SuperRare: enforced royalties; the marketplace takes 15% of the primary sale. Each secondary sale will distribute 90% of the sale to the collector, and the original artist receives a minimum of 10% as a royalty.

Final Thoughts: The Future of NFT Royalties

NFT royalties have been a fairly contentious topic lately. Marketplaces, artists, and collectors alike have differing opinions when discussing an ideal royalty system that benefits all the parties involved. However, NFT royalties have helped all kinds of artists globally create a better source of revenue for their work.

In the art world, royalties are a way to protect artists from having their work unjustly sold without giving them a fair share of the profit. In NFT music, for example, royalties play a slightly different role. NFT albums have become a popular way for artists to sell 99.9% of their work to fans while giving them a small percentage as royalty. This not only allows a broader connection between the artist and the fans but also eliminates intermediaries, like music labels, who take a considerable cut of their revenue.

NFT Real Estate Explained (Read Before Buying)

Posted on March 23, 2023March 23, 2023 by Anthony Georgiades

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have been used to disrupt several industries, starting with the art market and diversifying into music, communities, and real estate.

While these rapidly changing markets have been easier to disrupt, real estate could pose a much more significant challenge being a slower market, taking an average of 8 weeks per sale compared to art, which typically takes no longer than a wire transfer.

This article will look at how NFT real estate works, reasons to use NFTs in the real estate market, the top two NFT real estate projects, challenges real estate NFTs could face, and their future in the market.

How Do Real Estate NFTs Work?

Real estate NFTs are similar to traditional NFTs; they can be purchased on cryptocurrency marketplaces such as OpenSea and SolSea using Ethereum, Solana, or the cryptocurrency chosen by the seller. Each NFT is then held in a cryptocurrency wallet.

Real estate NFTs can be used to generate a passive income by representing equity in a real-estate project. They can cover everything from property ownership to a share, in which the NFT holder will be paid much like a traditional dividend. For example, if the NFT owner represents a 15% share in a real estate project, the holder will earn 15% of the net profit.

Due to their tokenized nature, most real estate NFTs can be sold at any time, provided there is a marketplace with sufficient liquidity for the asset. However, some real estate investments will require the owner to hold for an agreed period, which will be made clear before a purchase is made.

Why Use Real Estate NFTs?

With NFTs still being a new technology, how practical are they compared to a system that’s been in place for decades?

Being immutable, NFTs show absolute proof of ownership, improve credibility, and are fully transparent, without many of the complexities of the traditional real estate system, such as surveying and complex contracts. Here are two benefits that NFTs bring to real estate.

NFTs can dramatically decrease the volume of paperwork required to purchase a property. Current real estate investments require copious amounts of paperwork as part of the ownership transfer, which can be overwhelming for all parties involved.

Real estate NFTs help streamline this process, as much of the back-office paperwork can be automated with the NFT’s underlying smart contract. This, in theory, allows buyers and sellers to transfer ownership in a matter of minutes (after legal counsel has been consulted).

Top NFT Real Estate Projects

Origin Story

Origin Story has partnered with the real estate investment group Roofstock to bring real-world real estate properties to the NFT marketplace. Roofstock believes that this deal will help cut sellers’ fees by 50%, dramatically improving the profitability of selling property.

Roofstock also believes that on-chain real estate transfers could increase transaction speeds, streamlining the buying process. Since 2015, Roofstock has facilitated over $5 billion in investment transactions and plans to implement NFT real estate investments in 2023.

The Sandbox

The Sandbox is one of the largest Ethereum-based Metaverses in the DeFi market. Showcasing an entire world to explore, The Sandbox offers unique play-to-earn virtual reality gameplay in which players can buy land plots, buy and sell in-game assets, and complete tasks for rewards.

The Sandbox first rose to fame in 2021, when it was endorsed by Deadmau5, Snoop Dogg, and Atari, all of which own land plots within the digital world. Land plots are valued based on the area they’re in, with land close to celebrities having a higher value. For example, the three plots around the Snoop Dogg Mansion sold for $1.23m, with one selling for $453,000.

LoanSnap

LoanSnap launched the first seven mortgage NFTs in November 2021 in the form of home equity loans. These NFTs work like traditional mortgages, replacing mortgage notes with NFTs.

The location and size of the NFT mortgages were not disclosed and have not yet been available to the general public or crypto investors. However, LoanSnap also plans to issue a stablecoin called bHome. bHome will represent fractional ownership in the NFT mortgage notes, which would allow investors to own a percentage of the mortgage.

Challenges for NFTs in Real Estate

Much like any other new technology, real estate NFTs don’t come without their drawbacks. Firstly, only 12% of Americans understand the concept of NFTs, creating an educational divide. Although NFTs offer a wide array of benefits, the underlying technology could be too complex for everyday real estate workers and home buyers to fully utilize without the risk of hacks and scams, which have been used to steal $100m since July 2021.

Secondly, regulation could make real estate NFTs more complex than first thought. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has ramped up its investigation into NFTs, stating that NFTs are being used to raise money, like traditional securities, rather than being sold as art.

Real estate NFTs would undergo a Howey test before they’re accepted into the mainstream real estate market. Should they be considered a security, they will have to be registered with the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, file regular reports, and comply with Rule 505 of Regulation D.

Final Thoughts: Do NFTs Have A Place In The Future Of Real Estate?

In the future, real estate NFTs could be used to streamline both residential and commercial real estate transaction processes, and open the asset class to an international decentralized community of buyers and sellers.

As the real estate market is already heavily regulated, current laws covering privacy and data protection will likely make it difficult to buy and sell real estate properties as NFTs. Property laws in the real estate’s location could also add additional complexity to the deal, with different states and countries having different rules regarding real estate ownership.

That being said, real estate NFTs may begin to slowly influence the real world market, allowing individuals to hold mortgage debt, support new building projects and take part in group investments instead of outright buying and selling a whole property.

What Does Minting Mean When It Comes to NFTs?

Posted on December 13, 2022December 8, 2022 by Anthony Georgiades

Minting is the process of creating an asset on the blockchain. It’s the process used to create non-fungible tokens (NFTs,) which are blockchain-based tokens that prove ownership of an item such as a piece of music, profile picture, or image.

They first grew in popularity in 2021, with collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks making international headlines for their huge price tags. Since then, brands such as Nike and Adidas have created their collections, doubling the number of collections in just one year.

So what exactly is minting an NFT? How does minting work, and what does it cost? In this article, we’ll answer each of these questions: how long it takes to mint an NFT, the most famous mints, and how an NFT gas war can impact the minting price.

What Is Minting An NFT?

Minting an NFT is the process of creating an asset stored on the blockchain, where its authenticity and ownership are proven. The blockchain itself can’t be edited, which makes ownership indisputable.

Minting an NFT is usually completed on platforms like OpenSea, which provides users with the tools to mint their collection. In addition to these tools, creators will also need the art they plan to use and details of unique accessories and features. Some general knowledge about blockchain technology is also useful but not essential.

To mint a collection, creators will need a crypto wallet with the cryptocurrency needed to put their collection on the blockchain. Most NFTs are created with Ether (ETH), though Solana (SOL) and Cardano (ADA) are also popular options.

After paying all fees and uploading the necessary files to create a new token, the platform you use will register your new asset on the blockchain, which can be listed on exchanges to generate a crypto income,

How Does NFT Minting Work?

Minting For Creators

As a creator, minting an NFT lets creators create scarcity, secondary earnings, and verified ownership. Creators can create limited edition pieces, specialized collections, and more, all of which are validated on the blockchain.

Minting also lets creators build communities and perks for collectors who buy their NFTs and generate a passive income through “creator fees,” which charge a small percentage of each secondary sale.

Creators can complete the process on platforms like Solsea and Opensea, which cover all complex coding, allowing creators to focus on the art.

Minting For Collectors

As a collector, minting allows you to become part of a community. When minting from a new project, collectors become the first-ever owner of a particular NFT. Minting from a new collection is like buying a pack of collectible cards; you never know how rare the NFT will be.

Minting as a collector requires you to go to the developer’s website. On the website, there will be an option to “Mint.” Connect your wallet, pay all fees, and your NFT will arrive in around 30 minutes.

How Much Does Minting Cost?

The cost of minting depends on the “gas price” (transaction fee.) This is paid to the blockchain and will vary depending on the time of day and overall activity. Minting an NFT can cost as little as $0.01 but can go as high as $500 to a few thousand dollars. If gas fees are particularly high when minting an NFT, you can always return later to mint at a lower price. Just make sure the collection won’t sell out before then!

How Long Does It Take to Mint an NFT?

Minting an NFT can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 3-4 hours, depending on how experienced you are with the platform.

The actual minting process is the stage at which your NFT is published. Before minting, you need to create the art for the collection and decide how many NFTs you plan to create and how you plan to promote the collection.

Most Famous Mints

CryptoPunks

CryptoPunks was first released in June 2017 and became the most popular NFT collection of all time. What makes this mint famous is that it was completely free. Anyone with an Ethereum wallet could claim a CryptoPunk.

Following its release, many collections replicated the 10k profile picture trend, and CryptoPunks went on to sell for millions. As of December 2022, CryptoPunks remains the most valuable NFT collection on the planet.

Quantum

Quantum is commonly cited as the first NFT ever minted. It was minted in May 2014

(May 2014) on a site known as Namecoin. After its initial mint, Quantum was forgotten about for years until going on auction at Sotheby’s in June 2021, where it sold for over $1 million.

The Eternal

The Eternal is the fastest-selling NFT collection to be minted, selling out in just seven minutes. It was released by Anthony Hopkins, who partnered with NFT company Orange Comet. It was sold on 13th October and showcased 1000 NFTs consisting of 10 unique animation NFTs and 990 unique images.

What Is an NFT Gas War?

An NFT gas war is a bit like a bidding contest with too many bidders. It starts when the demand for an NFT is higher than its supply- for example when a popular new NFT collection is released. This increase in demand causes the blockchain to slow, and consequently, some investors tip blockchain validators to speed up the transaction. As a result, the gas fee increases based on the tip.

To beat other bidders, investors will keep paying higher fees until most investors can’t afford the gas fees. This causes the overall traffic to decrease and prioritizes the highest bidders, which can be frustrating for investors with smaller budgets as it could price them out completely.

It’s important to note that gas fees will also differ based on the platform and the time of day. In some situations, the gas fee can be higher than the listed sale price of the NFT. Therefore, it’s important you research the gas fee before selling or buying an NFT.

Final Thoughts: Minting Isn’t As Complex As You May Think

Minting an NFT isn’t quite as complex as it’s made out to be. While you need to consider factors such as gas fees and the platform to mint, once you have the designs in place, most platforms will take care of everything for you. Be diligent with your research beforehand and ensure that the gas fee is within your budget- the last thing you want to do is bid for an asset only to realize you can afford the gas.

Minting is a great way to make money as a digital creator. As NFT technology advances, its use cases and widespread adoption will also increase, making it a great time to get involved in the market.

Magic Eden NFT Marketplace Explained (Read Before Using)

Posted on December 8, 2022December 8, 2022 by Anthony Georgiades

Magic Eden is the world’s most popular Solana NFT marketplace, with over 10 million unique users and 20,000 daily transactions. It lets users sell non-fungible tokens (NFTs), including art and music NFTs.

In August 2022, the company announced it would release Ethereum NFTs, though its primary blockchain would remain Solana. It also released an optional royalty model in October 2022, replacing the 2% platform fee.

In this article, we’ll look at what the Magic Eden marketplace is, how it works, who founded it, and its unique launchpad feature.

What Is The Magic Eden NFT Marketplace?

Magic Eden is a decentralized NFT marketplace where users can buy, create, sell and trade Solana and Ethereum NFTs.

The platform showcases a range of NFT collections, including digital collectibles such as Okay Bears, y00ts, and the Degenerate Ape Academy, as well as music NFTs and gaming collectibles.

As the world’s most popular Solana NFT marketplace, 90% of all secondary Solana NFT platforms are completed on Magic Eden, which has a trading volume of over $1.44 billion.

Magic Eden raised $27 million during its Series A funding round, helping it compete with other NFT marketplaces such as OpenSea. In July 2022, Magic Eden raised an additional $130 million in a Series B funding round, which was led by Electric Capital and Greylock. Magic Eden was valued at $1.6 billion following this second funding round.

As of December 2022, Magic Eden users have access to a marketplace where they can search using different categories such as “Most Popular,” “Auctions,” or by release date. They also have access to an insights tab, a tab for Magic Eden games, and a unique launchpad.

When searching for a collection, users can filter stats based on the last 24 hours, week, or 30 days. They can also filter NFTs based on the unique attributes of a collection. These attributes include eyes, mouth, background, and other features. Or, if an investor has a specific budget in mind, they can filter an NFT collection based on its status and price.

Through the insights tab, users can view live auctions and recent market activity for all collections. This is great for collectors who want to stay up to date, with options for everything from recent transactions to top holders.

How Does The Magic Eden Marketplace Work?

To get started with Magic Eden, you need a Solana-compatible wallet such as Exodus, Trezor, or SolFlare. You then need to purchase SOL to cover the price of the NFT plus the Solana blockchain fee.

From here, you can connect your wallet to Magic Eden by clicking the “Connect Wallet” button on the right side of the screen. You don’t need to make an account. Once connected, you can buy any NFT collection on the platform by bidding on it at auction or clicking “Buy now” to make an instant purchase.

In November 2022 the most popular collection on Magic Eden was Claynosaurz, followed by y00ts and DeGods. The most popular collection of all time remains Okay Bears, a profile-picture NFT collection showcasing a range of bears with unique, quirky characteristics.

Alongside a comprehensive website, Magic Eden has its own iOS app. This app lets users browse a range of NFT collections; however, it doesn’t let users buy NFTs. NFT purchases are currently limited to the web browser.

Although mostly focused on Solana collections, Magic Eden also supports Ethereum (ETH) collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), Otherdeed For Otherside, and Azuki. These can be found on the “Popular Collections” tab under the “Ethereum” section.

If you want to get involved in the future of Magic Eden, you can also purchase Magic Tickets on the site. Each ticket grants you access to the Magic Eden decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). The DAO is currently an exclusive Discord channel where users can vote on future marketplace policies.

Who Founded The Magic Eden Marketplace

Magic Eden was founded in 2021 by four friends: Sidney Zhang, Jack Lu, Zhuoxun Yin, and Zhuojie Zhou. Before founding Magic Eden, each member had previous crypto and development experience.

Sidney Zhang formerly worked as an Uber Eats developer, Jack Lu worked at FTX, Zhuoxun Yin was a product manager at Coinbase, and Zhuojie Zhou worked as a Facebook developer.

Magic Eden Launchpad

To promote the adoption and success of Solana NFTs, Magic Eden created a unique launchpad to kick-start NFT artists’ projects. The launchpad works in a similar way to an art auction house, with all collections accepted by the launchpad being featured on the front page of the site.

As well as promoting NFT collections, the Magic Eden Launchpad helps creators actually mint their NFTs. It uses an innovative automatic distribution system that takes care of the technical side of NFT creation. This lets creators focus on the artwork instead of worrying about complex coding.

To be part of the launchpad, creators are required to go through a vigorous application process, which will look at the project, its utility, and its design. This process is extremely strict, and only 5% of applications are accepted.

Popular launchpad collections include Syberials: Mint Scrolls, Moon Strike NFT, and WADE Collab. HumanX, Plato Eats: Foodies, and Toys R Us are also set to be released at the start of December.

Final Thoughts: Magic Eden Is The Best Marketplace For Solana NFTs

With over 90% of secondary Solana NFT sales, Magic Eden is by far the most preferred NFT marketplace for Solana-based projects. It’s easy to use, with a seamless interface that makes it easy to find top collections, analyze current stats and search for gaming-based NFTs.

By combining Solana and Ethereum NFTs, the platform has made itself a one-stop shop for NFTs, where both creators and investors can find and buy the collections they want.

The standout feature of the Magic Eden marketplace is its launchpad. As its launchpad grows in popularity, it will help the platform become the first place new creators look towards when creating their collections. This will only speed up the widespread adoption of Magic Eden, which could one day compete with the likes of OpenSea to become one of the world’s largest NFT marketplaces.