Solana is officially part of the million-dollar NFT Club, thanks to Degen Ape #7225. Blockchain advisory firm Moonrock Capital purchased one of the Degenerate Ape Academy NFTs for 5,980 SOL on Saturday, worth $1.1 million.
Behind Solana’s Million Dollar NFT Sale
Degen Ape #7225 is the 13th rarest NFT in the collection. It is definitely easy to spot with its quirky looks. It’s not every day that you’ll see a scarred zombie version of an ape with a halo, a gold tooth and a brain in its mouth. Continuing its NFT shopping spree, the firm also picked up the 18th rarest SolPunk for 1388 SOL or $260,000.
The figure and money involved are indeed impressive but what stands out more is that Solana only needed two months to achieve this milestone. In contrast, Ethereum, the biggest and go-to network for NFTs, needed 3 years to record its first million-dollar Sale.
Degenerate Apes was Solana’s first big move into NFTs. This collection of costumed apes featured various traits with various degrees of rarity. For example, some NFTs are sporting sunglasses while others have sneakers and sandwiches in their mouth. Despite technical issues because of the high demand, the Collection of 10,000 sold out in less than 10 minutes. As of press time, trading volume is already at 848,500 SOL or over $150,000.
NFTs are indeed a hot market right now but how come Solana is edging out its competitors?
The Rise of Solana Blockchain
Solana is a proof-of-stake network, which means that it is a legitimate competitor to Ethereum because of its lightning-fast transactions at a fraction of the price. With such technology, Solana is also tearing down the crypto charts.
According to CoinMarketCap, Solana is now the 6th biggest cryptocurrency with a market cap of over $52 Billion. Aside from setting a new NFT record, the blockchain’s SOL token also recorded its all-time high price of $214.36 four days ago (September 8). This new record represents over 13,200% growth from its price of $1.61 on January 1.
As of press time, SOL has pulled back to around $177. So it is still up more than 10,800% year to date.
So what is the blockchain doing right?
As mentioned, launching Degenerate Apes was a major win. In addition, the network is also attracting a wide range of projects with good traction and even bigger potential. To be precise, over 400 projects are running on Solana, including various DeFi applications. For example, FTX and Alameda Research built their decentralized cryptocurrency exchange called Serum on the network, which also hosts the increasingly popular USDC Stablecoin.
Moreover, Ethereum is notorious for high gas fees and gas wars. So naturally, the market is on the lookout for alternatives. With Solana’s technology and service level, it’s definitely a strong contender. More on the technical side, Solana has wormholes that easily bridge between different networks. Interoperability is a stumbling block of growth, so this feature is another differentiator.
If you want to learn more about this network that is well on its way to being a powerhouse, visit their official website.
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