Solana Gunning for Ethereum’s Position
Solana is eyeing Ethereum’s position as both blockchains struggle for top spot among smart contracts. Although Ethereum is already established as a leader, the network has not hindered others who have been rapidly growing from poaching it’s market share. The growth of Solana’s NFT space has positioned it as a top contender for the top spot enjoyed by Ethereum.
NFTs on the Ethereum network has been performing quite well. And this success have attracted millions of users to the blockchain. Solana still trails Ethereum in terms of volume but the gap seems to be closing on Ethereum’s supremacy. This is as a result of successes recorded by Solana NFT projects.
The Okay Bears Effect
The Okay Bears NFT project has proven to be a game-changer for the Solana network. The project which started like any other NFT launch on the Solana network, had a whitelist that permitted whitelisted users to easily mint the NFTs on the mint day. But with time the Okay Bears NFT project has recorded huge successes and growth in popularity. In fact, it returned one of the highest NFT volumes on record.
The Okay Bears project launched a collection of 10,000 unique profile picture NFTs. And has since grown to a mint price of $145 apiece. The Solana network felt the effect of the Okay Bears project when the NFTs hit the secondary markets. It’s presence in these non Solana market places changed the way the crypto community viewed NFTs. This increased the level of interest in the project, such that it grossed $18.4 million in trading volume in 24 hours. This broke records set by even the top projects on the Ethereum network.
Due to this growth, Solana has proposed to introduce an exclusive marketplace for the Okay Bears project called the Bear Market. The exclusive privileges given to the project included a member-only NFTs drops among other benefits to owners. These are quite close to the benefits enjoyed by members of the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC).
Solana Continues To Grow
Solana’s real volume sets it apart other top competitors like Cardano. Its real volume of $310 million places it as the third-largest smart contract network. It only comes behind Ethereum and Terra at $2.46 billion and $506 million respectively.