- Solana NFTs are now being trialled on OpenSea
- The world’s biggest NFT marketplace confirmed Solana integration last week
- Solana represents the first blockchain outside Ethereum that OpenSea supports
Solana NFTs are now available on the world’s biggest NFT marketplace, OpenSea, after the first steps of the integration were announced. OpenSea alluded to the integration of Solana NFTs last week, and yesterday confirmed that a beta trial of Solana integration was underway before the rollout is really put to sea. Until now, OpenSea has been an Ethereum-only platform, making its integration of Solana a big move in the NFT space, one that could lead to other blockchains being added in the future.
OpenSea Opens its Doors to Solana
OpenSea teased the addition of the Solana blockchain to its platform at the end of March in a video featuring tweets based on code leaks suggesting that such a merge was imminent, sarcastically calling it “The best kept secret in web3”.
A launch date was not specified in the teaser, with the only confirmed time frame being some time in April, and yesterday OpenSea announced that time had come:
The moment you’ve been waiting for… @Solana is officially on OpenSea – starting today, with our initial beta!https://t.co/VjhqeGHZxc
— OpenSea (@opensea) April 6, 2022
OpenSea stated that the beta period would allow them to “collect feedback and improve the Solana experience”, adding that it was “currently supporting 165 collections, and adding more every day.”
Solana already has a thriving NFT community, with its chief marketplace Magic Eden serving some 200,000 users every day, so it’s not surprising that OpenSea has plumped for this blockchain in particular.
Users Urge Caution Over Dual Blockchains
Among all the celebrations, there were some words of caution from experienced users who warned about the intricacies of having dual blockchains on one marketplace:
So Solana NFTs just hit opensea, which is awesome, but I want to put out a little PSA to Solana NFT users that have never dealt with anything besides Solana NFT’s and Solana marketplaces. So on OS although you choose which blockchain to sell your NFT on, and if someone clicks buy
— Infinate (@InfinateCrypto) April 6, 2022
OpenSea is clearly using the Solana implementation as a test to see how other blockchains play with its infrastructure, having clearly spotted that sticking to just Ethereum will damage its prospects in the long term.
As to which blockchains might be added next, only time will tell.
