Popular Solana NFT marketplace Magic Eden raised $130M in a funding round, now with a valuation of $1.6B compared to the $13B of OpenSea.
Healthy competition to Ethereum NFT marketplaces like OpenSea could be a sign of the industry maturing and reaching new investors – the Solana blockchain is also favored by some NFT projects and collectors for its cheaper transaction fees, faster NFT minting, and higher royalty fees.
SOL is also at a lower price than ETH (currently $35 vs $1,100) and seen by some as an ‘Ethereum killer’ as it is more scalable – the success of Solana NFTs and the SOL token will go hand in hand.
Cryptoassets are a highly volatile unregulated investment product. Your capital is at risk.
Magic Eden Funding Round
The Series B founding round included investment from Silicon Valley venture capital firm Greylock Partners and California based VC firm Electric Capital.
In June 2021 OpenSea was valued at $1.5B in a Series B funding found led by Andreessen Horowitz, putting Magic Eden around a year behind in its growth.
A press release from Magic Eden stated they may be open to multi-chain support for other types of NFTs – as well as continuing to serve the Solana NFT community. Magic Eden makes up 90% of Solana NFT trading volume.
Magic Eden CEO Jack Lu stated:
‘We see this capital as a measure of our investor confidence in Magic Eden and the broader crypto market. The additional investment will allow us to achieve our goal to onboard the next billion users to Web3 without being constrained by market cycles.
We know that NFTs are the best way to bring people onto the blockchain. NFTs are exciting, social and cultural experiences that bring connectivity to the world. We’ve made the conscious decision to support both our creators and users through this tremendous era of growth for both the company and the industry.’
Despite Solana correcting 86% from its all time high of around $260 set in November 2021, and many blue chip NFTs being down in floor price, Jack Lu sees it as a short term trend within an NFT bull market:
‘Markets will do what markets do – we are excited to build on a 10+ year time horizon.’
Being able to raise $130 million in funding despite the extreme fear in the crypto markets does suggest that price action aside, behind the scenes nothing has fundamentally changed about the use case and utility of NFTs.
Founder and CTO Sidney Zhang, @SidaZhang on Twitter, shared a tweet thread of his journey from failing with his first crypto startup to finding success with Magic Eden.
Related
Next NFT to Blow Up - Lucky Block
- #1 NFT Competitions Platform - luckyblock.com
- Daily NFT Jackpot Draws - Free Entry
- Lifetime Platinum Rollers Club Benefits
- LBLOCK Token Listed on LBank, Gate.io, MEXC, PancakeSwap (V1 Token)
- 10,000 NFTs Minted - nftlaunchpad.com