OpenSea’s Long Rumoured Solana Integration is Coming in April

Quick take:

• Solana will be the fourth blockchain integrated on OpenSea.
• OpenSea’s Solana integration could pose a threat to the leading Solana NFT marketplace, Magic Eden.
• An exact date for the integration has yet to be revealed.

Leading NFT marketplace OpenSea tweeted a video teaser on Tuesday, hinting that the platform will integrate Solana in April.

The best kept secret in web3🤣 pic.twitter.com/xuZn64cZ4U

— OpenSea (@opensea) March 29, 2022

The tweet said “the best kept secret in web3” with a cry-laughing emoji, an ironic reference to the fact that the integration of Solana has already been known amongst industry insiders for months now. 

Security researcher and tech blogger, Jane Manchun Wong, who uncovers hidden and unreleased features on apps spotted OpenSea’s work-in-progress on Solana’s integration in January. 

Once integrated, Solana would be the fourth blockchain on OpenSea, joining Ethereum, Polygon and Klaytn. According to data provided by “chuxin” on Dune Analytics, transactions in the Solana NFT market hit new all-time highs on Mar 29 as its daily transaction count reached 57.1k while the total daily transaction volume was 136,000 SOL.

NFT sales on Solana surpassed $1 billion in January, making it the second-biggest blockchain for NFTs behind market leader Ethereum. With the costly gas fees that come with NFT transactions on Ethereum, users have been looking for cheaper alternatives.

While most blue-chip projects are mainly minted on Ethereum, Solana is home to major NFT collections such as Solana Monkey Business and Degenerate Ape Academy. One of the NFTs in Solana Monkey Business sold for $2.1 million in October last year while Degenerate Ape Academy is the first Solana NFT project to break $1 million in September last year.

According to Dune Analytics data by “brownboy”, leading Solana marketplace Magic Eden – which has recently completed a $27 million fundraise – currently holds 91.7% of the Solana NFT market share. 

OpenSea’s Solana integration could pose a threat to Magic Eden. Having anticipated it, Magic Eden revealed plans to use its recently raised funds to build a gaming vertical and focus on gaming NFTs.

An exact date for the integration of Solana NFTs on OpenSea has yet to be revealed.