Rise of Magic Eden
White Star Capital Digital Asset Fund - newsletter #88
Magic Eden recently raised a $130 million Series B round valuing the company at 1.6 billion. Over the past year, Magic Eden has grown into the 3rd largest NFT marketplace across all chains behind Opensea and LooksRare, and claimed over 90% market share of daily volume on Solana. Yet the odds were not in their favor from the beginning.
Magic Eden’s humble origins
When Magic Eden first launched, NFT marketplaces on Solana were crowded as startups vied to replicate Opensea’s success. Yet Magic Eden was able to differentiate itself and stand out in a competitive field. First, Magic Eden provided a launchpad service this allowed them to extend their branding and reputation to early NFT projects and attract projects to launch first on ME. Second, Magic Eden was the fastest to list newly minted projects, making projects available for secondary trading quickest among marketplaces. These factors helped Magic Eden thrive.
Holding onto its leading position
OpenSea’s Solana launch was dubbed the ‘Magic Eden killer’. Opensea already was the top NFT marketplace on Ethereum, processing over 200 million daily volume at their peak. It seemed logical when Opensea launched on Solana that Magic Eden would stand to lose. However Magic Eden continues to hold more than 90% market share of all NFT transactions on Solana. Part of the reason is migrating liquidity for existing NFT projects to different marketplaces has proven diffcult. Additionally Magic Eden provides a great user experience and an immense selection of NFT projects on the Solana ecosystem.
Impact on the space
Magic Eden’s rise highlights how nothing in web3 is set in stone. As long as teams have hustle and vision they can deliver a vibrant project against any odds.
NFT are an emerging space with utility still being defined today. Games, artists and musicians are using and experimenting with NFTs to find the right use case. It will be interesting to see Magic Eden and other marketplaces develop a game-winning strategy to provide the right balance of tools to push the envelope in this emerging space.
🔦 White Star & Portfolio Spotlight
BitGo CISO joins crypto-custody startup Dfns for compliance-driven security
DFNS hired BitGo’s chief information security officer (CISO), Dr. Samer Fayssal, to strengthen compliance-driven security.
Multis launch insight dashboards that consolidate data from different chains and wallets
Users can now visualize their inflows and outflows categorically.
Atlendis launch bug bounty program with Immunfi
Security researchers and developers are invited to audit the Atlendis protocol’s smart contracts and earn rewards.
🏦 Enterprises & Institutions
Coinbase Launching 'Nano' Bitcoin Futures via Derivatives Exchange
Retail investors will be able to trade crypto futures through Coinbase starting Monday.
Fashion Brand Salvatore Ferragamo Opens Ethereum NFT Booth in NYC
The luxury fashion brand Salvatore Ferragamo is joining the swelling ranks of designers getting into NFTs.
ANZ Bank’s Stablecoin Used To Purchase Tokenized Carbon Credits
A stablecoin issued by one of Australia’s biggest banks, ANZ, has been used to purchase tokenized carbon credits in a landmark transaction aimed at testing the asset’s feasibility in carbon abatement instruments.
Bitcoin miner White Rock Management launches in the US
White Rock Management, a Swiss-based bitcoin miner, deployed its first rigs in the US.
⚖️ Government & Regulation
European Commission Advisor: ‘We’re Currently Not on Track to Regulate DeFi’
At Brussels Blockchain Week, crypto enthusiasts met in the shadow of impending regulation—but the regulators themselves were few and far between.
The future of digital asset regulation? The CFTC, says Congressional committee
The CFTC is winning over support to expand its role in crypto among the Congressional committees that oversee the commission.
Singapore provisionally approves Crypto.com, Genesis and Sparrow for payments
Singapore’s financial regulators gave in-principle approval to three additional cryptocurrency firms to offer payment services in the country. This comes just weeks after the regulator revealed plans to explore use cases for DeFi on public blockchains.
💰 Funding & Exits
a16z leads $23 million funding round for NFT gaming platform Cryptoys
The company will use the funds to build an NFT-based gaming universe with collectible toys, play-and-earn games, and an original animated series.
Prime Trust raises $107 million to add new crypto products
Prime Trust said it will use its Series B funding to develop its cryptocurrency retirement products and build support for tokenized assets.
FTX US is acquiring equities clearing startup Embed Financial
Crypto exchange FTX US is acquiring equities clearing firm Embed Financial to enhance its newly-launched stocks trading offering.
Azuro raises $4 million to build a decentralized betting ecosystem
Azuro, a protocol that hopes to build a decentralized betting system, has raised $4 million. Investors in the round included Hypersphere, Ethereal Ventures, Arrington Capital, Delphi Digital, AllianceDAO, Gnosis and Merit Circle.
FalconX more than doubles its valuation to $8 billion in $150 million round
Digital assets platform FalconX has raised a $150 million Series D led by GIC and B Capital. Thoma Bravo, Wellington Management, Adams Street and Tiger Global Management also took part in the round.
Ex-Sushi CTO Raises $8M for NFT Lending Platform Astaria
The platform, led by CEO Justin Bram and DeFi vet Joseph Delong, aims to provide instant liquidity for your JPEGs and should be available to the public by September.
🚀 Project Launches & Updates
Solana Labs Is Building a Web3 Mobile Phone
The backers of the Solana blockchain said the devices will cost around $1,000 and be available for delivery in early 2023.
Announcing dYdX Chain
Rebuilding dYdX as a standalone Cosmos based blockchain featuring a fully decentralized, off-chain, orderbook and matching engine.
1Confirmation launches $100M, 10-year life NFT fund
New $100M vehicle will get some exposure to authentic bluechip collections like Punks and Nouns. 1Confirmation is primarily focused on investing in new projects around gaming, art, photography and music.
🔥 Other Bits We're Excited About
Soccer Superstar Cristiano Ronaldo Is Making NFTs for Binance
Many pro athletes are diving headfirst into crypto and NFTs, and the Portuguese professional footballer is joining them.