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Magic Eden Pulls Plug on Bitcoin and Ethereum Support, Doubles Down on Solana
Magic Eden co-founder and CEO Jack Lu disclosed that the NFT marketplace and token trading platform is ending support for Ethereum-compatible and Bitcoin-based assets.
In less than two weeks, Magic Eden users will no longer be able to trade assets associated with the networks on its platform. That includes assets minted on Ethereum scaling networks like Polygon and Base, as well as Bitcoin Ordinals and Runes meme coins.
Magic Eden’s self-custodial wallet will see similar changes, with plans to no longer support the assets at the beginning of April. The marketplace will continue to support those within Solana’s ecosystem, where the NFT marketplace debuted in 2021.
The move marks a significant shift in Magic Eden’s approach to user adoption. The company had previously become the largest NFT marketplace by trading volume by pioneering a multi-chain approach while cornering the market for Bitcoin-based Ordinals years ago.
Magic Eden signaled last year that it was building beyond the ever-cooling market for digital collectibles by acquiring Slingshot Finance, a mobile-first crypto trading application. Efforts to break into the market for meme coin trading were poised across multiple chains.
In January, Lu unveiled Dicey, announcing that the crypto casino and sportsbook would position the company to capitalize on a “speculation supercycle.” Magic Eden is continuing to orient itself around “the massive opportunity in iGaming.”
As part of the shift, the company will no longer conduct NFT buybacks and will seek to refine how its ME token is used across products.
Magic Eden’s ME token, which can be used to earn rewards and participate in the project’s governance, was valued at around 12 cents, with its value having plummeted 97% from a peak of $5.63 after its debut.
Since its debut, Magic Eden has raised $140 million in total funding, including a $130 million Series B funding round in 2022, which valued the firm at $1.6 billion, co-led by venture capital firms Greylock and Electric Capital.
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Magic Eden was among the earliest adopters of Ordinals and Runes, supporting the assets that resemble NFTs and meme coins on Bitcoin before most top-tier exchanges. The company solidified its lead with Ordinals and Runes, even as those markets cooled.
Last month, Magic Eden generated $576 million in trading volume across digital collectibles, although that activity was mostly centered around NFTs on Solana, with $121,000 in trading volume from Bitcoin-based assets over the period.
Some projects are ready to take up the mantle for Bitcoin-based assets. Taproots Wizards co-founder Udi Wertheimer announced that a dedicated marketplace for the Ordinals-focused project is “coming soon.”
This article has been published in decrypt.co via Yahoo News.
Magic Eden Pulls Plug on Bitcoin and Ethereum Support, Doubles Down on Solana
Magic Eden is pulling support for Ethereum-compatible and Bitcoin-based assets, marking an end to its multi-chain approach to user adoption.
finance.yahoo.com
