NFT Giant OpenSea Unveils Solana Launchpad

OpenSea announced kicking off the Solana launchpad to allow creators to host a new mint from beginning to end on the NFT marketplace.

• According to the official blog post, OpenSea will guide creators to navigate all pre-mint activities, and allowlist minting for their community and supporters, in addition to all post-mint and secondary sales.
• The goal is to develop “the best Solana experience” in the NFT ecosystem by allowing users to have custody of their NFTs.

“We’re excited to start this program with two Solana creators as part of our launchpad experience. We are excited to launch and learn with these first drops, and we’re committed to expanding primary drops on OpenSea.”

• The development comes three months after OpenSea activated support for Solana.
• The NFT giant has been one of the top beneficiaries of the bull run that transpired in 2020 and 2021.
• It managed to score hundreds of millions in investor dollars, most recently at a $13.3 billion valuation.
• However, the growth has attracted a fair share of drama. Earlier last month, one of the company’s former product managers was charged by the US Justice Department and arrested for insider trading.
• Following the significant depression in the crypto market, several top industry players chopped their headcount to prepare for the crypto winter.
• OpenSea was no exception. The marketplace announced laying off 20% of its workforce last week.