The non-fungible token (NFT) market is booming, and on top of that is the top NFT market – OpenC. Or at least it used to be before the newly launched Luxair was overtaken. The latter is now handling traffic worth more than twice the figure registered by OpenSea.
Naturally, OpenSea is looking to expand its base from the Ethereum-based NFTs it traditionally hosts, as many other players emerge throughout the market. According to recent reports, the platform may also soon introduce NFTs based on the rival Solana blockchain, as Ethereum’s dominance in the space continues to decline.
This will allow the largest market to access even more collectibles that are growing in popularity.
Popular hacker Jane Manchun Wong, who has previously leaked upcoming developments from popular platforms such as Instagram and Facebook, revealed on Twitter that OpenC is working to integrate Solana-based-NFTs with support for the Phantom Wallet.
One thing to note, however, is that OpenSea has yet to issue a statement accepting or denying Wong’s claims.
OpenSea is working on Solana integration, as well @ Phantom wallet support pic.twitter.com/ZEefshKSY1
— jane munchun wong (@wongmjane) 25 January 2022
This comes at a time when NFT transactions on the Solana blockchain have crossed the $1 billion mark in total volume in January 2022. In fact, Solana-based marketplace Magic Eden was the fourth largest in terms of daily transaction volume.
This could be a cause for concern for NFT maestro Ethereum, whose market dominance has fallen from 98% to 80% in recent months. Much of this can be attributed to rising gas charges and high transaction times that characterize the network.
However, as these issues also begin to penetrate Solana’s system as its popularity grows, its emergence as a competitor to Ethereum has also been seriously challenged.
OpenSea itself is facing some challenges as the threat of competitors draws near. The market saw a rally this month when it broke its previous record in September last year by selling $3.8 billion. In fact, researchers at Zapper found that since its inception, OpenSea has generated more than $12 billion in business through 25 million transactions.
in the gods @zapper_fi The indexing of all NFT transfers and OpenSea sales since Block 0 on the mainnet has just finished.
He is:
– ~26k collection
– ~25 million NFT transfers
– ~12 billion sales on OpenSea
– very bullish pic.twitter.com/HBcikBl5VN— felixd.eth (@__felixd) 25 January 2022
However, it has lagged behind the recently launched LuxRay, which gave January’s momentum boost and flipped OpenC dominance.
Furthermore, the recent or upcoming launch of marketplaces by centralized crypto-exchanges such as Coinbase and FTX could further damage OpenC’s business, giving considerable impetus to its decision to broaden its horizons beyond Ethereum.