Sequoia Capital Bets Big on Solana-Based NFT Marketplace Magic Eden: Report

Silicon Valley venture capital firm, Sequoia is betting big on the leading Solana NFT marketplace – Market Eden.

OpenSea happens to be the leader in the NFT space, however, its dominance appears to be dwindling. There are now newer platforms backed by some of the biggest investors that may have been contributing to this trend.

Magic Eden’s $27 Million Funding Round

According to the latest reports, Magic Eden is set to announce $27 million in Series A. Leading the round is Sequoia Capital, while other investors include Paradigm and Solana Ventures. The platform has declined to reveal its valuation, but the latest capital infusion will be deployed to expand its services.

The latest news comes just a week after Magic Eden partnered with sporting entertainment platform Overtime to roll out an NFT collection that seeks to improve fan engagement and exclusive experiences.

Solana or Ethereum: The Next NFT Hub

Sequoia Capital partner Shaun Maguire believes one of the world’s popular venues for NFTs – OpenSea – has a weakness since it mainly relies on a less efficient blockchain, Ethereum. Despite being a startup, Maguire has high hopes for Magic Eden. He said,

“The bet was that they would move fast and that they would capture that advantage before OpenSea would be able to go into Solana.”

OpenSea has also been hurt by the significant negative press that made rounds this year. Its trading volumes and sales have also taken a hit. Hence, investors turning to newer platforms isn’t surprising.

Data from CryptoSlam reveal that Solana raked up a total of $116,193,618 on sales in the last 30 days, During the same time, Ethereum’s figures stood at $1,865,220,512. So far, Solana has attracted primarily retail investors who were massively affected by the high Ethereum transaction gas fees.

It is still early to speculate on Magic Eden’s dominance in the sector at a time when NFT sales have gone down tremendously. While Magic Eden dominates NFT trade on the Solana blockchain, overall, it’s still only the ninth-largest NFT marketplace.

But its co-founder Zhuoxun Yin, a former Coinbase product manager, is confident that Solana has many advantages over Ethereum, especially in areas such as video games, where NFTs are expected to be traded frequently. The exec said,

“Gaming NFTs will be on places like Solana. They’re not going to be on Ethereum.”