Market Minute: Solana catches up on Ethereum in the NFT space

By FKlivestolearn | Technicity | 8 Jul 2022

Although the broader NFT market has seen decreasing trading volume recently, the gap between the two platforms has shrunk

1*jMyPNECG8W_FoKboK-eGEQ.png

Back in May, I wrote about how the explosive growth of NFTs in 2021 had leveled off this year. For those of you not familiar with the topic, Non-fungible tokens or NFTs is a file format, just like jpeg, png, or gif — one that transfers data and value on blockchain networks like Ethereum or Solana via smart contracts. While the pioneering & the biggest smart contract platform Ethereum dominates the Defi and NFT spaces, noteworthy peers like Solana are catching up.

Talking about the ninth-largest crypto Solana, its NFT volume has been pretty comparable in the last two months to Ethereum. As seen in the chart above by Arcane research, the smaller Solana market actually surpassed the NFT volume on Ethereum on May 24 — when SOL volume was 1.6x ETH volume. Also, the number of daily active addresses on Solana was almost 2.5x greater than Ethereum throughout June.

At the beginning of 2022, ETH was the dominant force in NFT space and then SOL began to make its mark. After the huge spike in early May, ETH volume dropped off significantly as the high transaction fee on the Ethereum blockchain began to bite in its dominance — which was $6.50 in June, compared to Solana’s few cents. In addition, SOL gaining a significant market share in gaming NFTs also helped its cause.

Having said all this, Ethereum still remains a very valuable blockchain platform — over the last 30 days, the NFT market on Ethereum was 3.5x the size of the Solana market in terms of dollar amount generated via sales. Overall, the NFT space has shrunk quite a bit this year and more specifically in the last two months. OpenSea, which is the biggest marketplace in NFTs, registered just $17 million in Ethereum trading volume on July 4 as compared to an all-time high of $476 million on May 1.

Originally Published on Medium

Crypto Ethereum (ETH) NFTs Non Fungible Tokens NFT Solana (SOL)

How do you rate this article?

FKlivestolearn

I am a prolific Blogger on Substack/Medium with a newsletter. Extensive trading experience in Forex & Stocks based on technical studies. Cryptocurrency trader and Enthusiast, Blockchain/Fintech Evangelist & generally just a Technology Freak.