Many investors may have missed a huge milestone that Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) and the Solana non-fungible token (NFT) ecosystem just achieved: for the first time, Solana produced more income in NFT sales during a 24-hour period than Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH).
When it comes to NFTs, Ethereum is the 800-pound gorilla in the room, with initiatives like Crypto Kitties, Crypto Punks, and Bored Ape Yacht Club bringing NFTs into the public for the first time. With celebrities like rapper Jay-Z purchasing a CryptoPunk and Brazilian soccer player Neymar purchasing a Bored Ape, Ethereum pushed NFTs into their global debut.
A significant turning point
Given Ethereum’s looming presence in the crypto industry, it was surprising to see as Solana surpasses Ethereum in daily sales volume on May 24 into the morning of May 25, with Solana surpasses Ethereum out with $24.3 million in sales to Ethereum’s $24 million, according to CryptoSlam data.
Solana surpasses Ethereum for the day, thanks in part to the launch of the Trippin’ Ape Tribe, a high-profile initiative. With $14.5 million in sales, that project outsold all other individual NFT collections for the day. However, this wasn’t the first time a single Solana collection topped the daily charts for a single NFT collection. With $18 million in sales on April 27, another popular project, Okay Bears, became the first non-Ethereum NFT to lead all NFT collections in sales over a 24-hour period.
Increased accessibility
In the foreseeable future, these milestones may become increasingly prevalent. Solana NFTs are now supported by OpenSea, the world’s largest NFT marketplace, which was recently valued at $13.3 billion in a financing round. Previously, OpenSea was solely dedicated to the trading of Ethereum and subsequently Polygon (CRYPTO: MATIC) NFTs. Following OpenSea’s lead, Rarible, an OpenSea competitor, enabled Solana NFTs on its platform shortly after.
While these newcomers will provide a wider range of collectors and investors with access to Solana NFTs, they will also compete with Magic Eden, the already-thriving Solana-native NFT marketplace. Magic Eden had more weekly users and higher transaction volume than OpenSea over the previous seven days, according to venture capitalist Li Jin, however OpenSea still led in total income for the week.
What does this imply?
Given the history and high price points of many Ethereum NFTs, it’s unlikely that Solana will ever overtake Ethereum as the most popular blockchain for NFT sales — at least not for the time being. However, it is a sign that Solana NFTs are gaining traction, and that Solana is firmly establishing itself as a credible challenger to Ethereum in the NFT space as it grows in popularity.
Solana has sold approximately $330 million in NFTs in the last 30 days, according to CryptoSlam data, compared to $3.1 billion in Ethereum NFT sales. Solana has established itself as a key contender, but it still has a long way to go to reach Ethereum; nonetheless, this may be viewed as a good because it still has plenty of room to expand. While Ethereum has ten times the monthly sales of Solana.
Solana surpasses the second most popular blockchain, Flow (CRYPTO: FLOW), which is home to NBA Top Shot NFTs and has a market cap of little under $23 million. The popularity of these NFTs is also beneficial to Solana as a whole, as it attracts more users to the network.
Sources: MSN