The official launch of Solana-based NFTs could boost OpenSea platform even as it’s trading volumes decline. The rollout comes in the wake of recent Solana network problems.
NFTs minted on the Solana blockchain can now be accessed and traded on OpenSea, the world’s largest NFT marketplace by trade volumes. The move announced by the firm on Twitter follows recent rumors and last week’s official teaser by OpenSea that Solana support was on the way.
OpenSea is built chiefly on Ethereum and presently controls a significant portion of the NFT trading market. Adding Solana to its stable will allow OpenSea to accommodate collectibles from the second-largest NFT ecosystem outside of Ethereum and its sidechain/layer-2 scaling solutions.
Low gas fees and fast transaction speeds
According to OpenSea, Solana support has been added in beta with “limited collection coverage.” The firm says that it currently supports 165 collections, although if you search the marketplace by chain, it shows more than 865,000 total NFTs minted on Solana. On the OpenSea marketplace, OpenSea announced:
“Solana’s low gas fees and fast transaction speeds make NFTs accessible to all. And, on OpenSea, you don’t have to choose between liquidity and control – when you list, your NFTs stay in your wallet until they’re sold.”
The news will be hailed by the Solana community after the blockchain suffered from more than a few poor headlines in late 2021. The Solana network was down three times due to excessive traffic on the blockchain. Something Solana developers claimed the network could handle. These events caused the price of Solana to crash.
A more energy-efficient blockchain network
Solana now has the chance to showcase its utility and leave that news in the past. Since its launch in April 2019, it has built a reputation as one of the fastest and cheapest blockchains. In contrast, using the Ethereum network for NFTs can be costly for users.
During times of increased network traffic, there are high fees when users create or purchase NFTs. The Solana network boasts speeds of up to 65,000 transactions per second for fractions of a penny. That is roughly 4,000 times faster than Ethereum and exponentially cheaper. Interestingly, OpenSea differs from other Solana marketplaces by letting users keep listed NFTs within their own wallets. Targeting rivals like Magic Eden and FTX NFTs, OpenSea wrote:
“On OpenSea, you don’t have to choose between liquidity and control—when you list, your NFTs stay in your wallet until they’re sold.”
Popular Solana NFT collections like Solana Monkey Business, DeGods, Degenerate Ape Academy, Aurory, and Shadowy Super Coder are currently listed on OpenSea. Solana offers significantly lower transaction fees than Ethereum and are a more energy-efficient blockchain network that can handle more significant numbers of transactions at a time.
