Solana’s attractive features include lower gas fees, higher energy efficiency, and high scalability – all of which led more creators and collectors to Sol Art. Many of them maybe asking: “How do you buy Solana NFT?”. So, let’s dive into this guide together and explore everything you need to know about Solana NFTs.
What is Solana NFT?
NFT means “Non-Fungible Token”, which is a fancy word for saying it’s one-of-a-kind and can’t be replaced. Solana is the platform or blockchain where these NFTs are made and traded.
Most NFTs are pictures, videos, or art, but they can be anything digital. Traders like NFTs because they can own them and maybe sell them later for more money. Solana is popular for NFTs because of its fast blockchain transactions and doesn’t charge as much as other blockchains like Ethereum. So, people who want to make or buy NFTs might pick Solana because they save money on fees.
NFTs on Solana are used in games, for collecting art, and some people even buy them just to show off. But not everyone gets it – some people think NFTs are weird or too expensive. Still, NFTs keep getting popular, and Solana is one of the places people go for them.
Solana NFTs vs Ethereum NFTs
Speed and Transaction Differences
Solana and Ethereum NFTs work on very different blockchains. Ethereum, created in 2015, is more focused on security and decentralization, which makes it slower and more expensive. On the other hand, Solana is designed to be super fast and cheap. It uses a mix of proof-of-history (PoH) and proof-of-stake (PoS) mechanisms, letting it handle more than 65,000 transactions per second, while Ethereum only manages around 30. This difference makes Solana ideal for trading NFTs quickly and affordably, while Ethereum can be slower and more costly.
Gas Fees and User Access
One of the biggest problems with Ethereum NFTs is the gas fees, or transaction fees, which get very high during busy times – sometimes costing hundreds of dollars just for one transaction. Solana, however, has really low gas fees, usually less than a cent.
Marketplace Choices and Ecosystem
Ethereum has the biggest NFT market and the most established ecosystem, including top platforms like OpenSea and Rarible. This means Ethereum has more projects and tools, including options for lending and borrowing NFTs. Solana’s NFT ecosystem is newer but growing fast with platforms like Magic Eden.
Top Solana NFT projects in 2024
Now you know what Solana NFTs are, the question is: Which do you want? With Solana NFT collections hotting up, there are plenty of options to choose from. But not all are great—some are just copycats of Ethereum NFTs. When considering which sol art project to invest in, bear the following projects in mind:
Mad Lads
Mad Lads is a super popular NFT collection on Solana. It came out in April 2023, made by Backpack, a wallet on Solana. Mad Lads has 10,000 profile picture NFTs, called xNFTs. When it launched, the mint price was 6.9 SOL, and they sold out in minutes!
These aren’t just normal NFTs. xNFTs actually have code inside them that gives you ownership rights over how they work or what they can do. That’s why they’re so special and different from other NFTs.
Retardio Cousins
The Retardio Cousins NFT collection is a series of 4,444 unique digital collectibles on the Solana blockchain. Each piece in this collection features a unique 2D character meant to be used as profile pictures (PFPs) and is designed to add some humor and personality to the NFT scene. The collection has gained popularity on platforms like Magic Eden, and prices have shown significant movement, with a recent floor price of around 35 SOL.
This collection is appealing to those who enjoy quirky digital art, and it’s held by around 2,481 unique owners, showing strong community engagement. You can find and trade Retardio Cousins on NFT marketplaces like Magic Eden and Tensor.
Solana Monkey Business
Solana Monkey Business (SMB) is one of the biggest NFT projects on the Solana blockchain. It’s sometimes called the “Bored Ape Yacht Club of Solana” because it’s valuable and has a big community.
The project has two main parts: Gen1 and Gen2. Gen1 launched in June 2021 with only 205 pixel-art monkeys, each with a unique look like Astromonkey and Monkalien themes. Later, Gen2 came out in August 2021 with 5,000 more monkeys, each with different traits to make them rare and special. They were originally sold for about 2 SOLs, which was $69 back then.
The coolest thing about SMB Gen2 is it lets holders join MonkeDAO, a group of SMB owners who decide on projects and vote on ideas that help the Solana community.
DeGods
DeGods is one of the best Solana NFT collections with 10,000 unique “god-like” NFTs. It launched in 2021 and quickly got attention because it’s built to get rarer over time. When it started, they had a special rule called the “Paper Hands Bitch Tax” that made people pay a fee if they sold their DeGods too cheaply. This was to make sure the value stayed high. But later, they replaced that with a regular fee on sales, which was simpler and worked better.
One of the coolest parts of DeGods is “DeadGods”. This is like a visual upgrade of a regular DeGod. DeGods has a community called DeDAO, where holders help decide what the project does.
How to buy Solana NFTs
Before you can buy Sol Art, you need three things: a Solana wallet, some SOL, and a Solana marketplace.
1. Set up a Solana wallet
Since Solana NFTs are on the Solana blockchain, Ethereum wallets like MetaMask are not compatible. If you send SOL to MetaMask, it’s pretty much gone forever. Instead, what you need is a Solana wallet like Phantom, Solflare, or Sollet. Of these, Phantom is the most popular—think of it like MetaMask of the Solana world.
Before you start buying NFTs on Solana, you must learn how to to set up a Phantom wallet:
- Go to phantom.app/download and choose your browser (Chrome, Brave, Firefox, or Edge). Conversely, if you’re using Chrome, you can directly add the extension from the Chrome Web Store.
- Install the Phantom browser extension.
- Click “Create New Wallet”, save the secret recovery phrase, create a password, and click confirm. You’re all set!
2. You’ll need some SOL for your NFT: Here’s how to buy it
Next, you’ll need some SOL to buy Solana NFTs from marketplaces. You can simply buy SOL from a supported exchange like Binance, Coinbase, or FTX, and send it to your wallet. Alternatively, you can add USDT stablecoins to Phantom and exchange them for SOL within the wallet.
3. Find a Solana Marketplace where you can buy Sol Art
Now, you know how to buy SOL, you’ll need an NFT marketplace to buy your first Sol NFT on! For this, there are several Solana-based marketplaces you can browse. The most popular option is Solanart, which offers curated NFT collections like Degenerate Ape Academy, Aurory, SolPunks, and Galactic Gecko Space Garage. To date, it has generated a total sales volume of 4.5 million SOL. DigitalEyes is another Solana marketplace featuring collections like the hit Solana Monkey Business and Frakt. You can also check out the open NFT marketplace, Solsea.
Why get into Sol Art?
Unsurprisingly, Solana NFTs came under the limelight in 2021. What’s more, the growing interest in Sol Art resulted in massive gains for its native cryptocurrency, Solana (SOL). In a year’s time, SOL’s value rose up by nearly 9,500%, according to Business Insider. To put things in perspective, with just a $150 investment in SOL at the beginning of 2021, you’d have ended up with over $14,000 by the end of 2021.
Not to mention the sales of several Solana NFTs for millions of dollars! A Degenerate Ape NFT sold for around $1.1 million in September, marking the network’s first million-dollar NFT sale. This was followed by the $2 million sale of a Solana Monkey the next month.
Reportedly, between August and November 2021, Solana NFT secondary sales hit $500 million. In September alone, it raked in $189.4 million. Even if you look at the top blockchains by NFT sales volume in the past 30 days, Solana takes the third spot, only behind Ethereum and Ronin, as per CryptoSlam rankings.
“While Ethereum remains the dominant NFT market leader today, Solana has begun to carve out its space within the NFT landscape,” Messari research analyst Mason Nystrom noted in a tweet.
All these points toward the tremendous opportunities in the Solana NFT ecosystem. Besides, NFTs on Solana are more affordable than those on Ethereum, making it especially attractive for new investors.
Conclusion
Solana NFTs are still at a nascent stage. While there are tonnes of Sol Art projects dropping right now, not everything will be a success. Now you know how to buy Solana NFTs with confidence, make sure to research thoroughly before hopping on the bandwagon. Websites like Solanalysis, HowRare.is, and Solana Floor are great options to study the market.
FAQs
What is the leading NFT in Solana?
The top NFTs on Solana is DeGods. It’s popular because of its unique art style, which has detailed, god-like characters, and its focus on community involvement. DeGods isn’t just a basic collectible; it offers extra benefits for holders, like staking to earn DUST tokens, which people use within the Solana ecosystem. Other strong projects in Solana include Mad Lads, with 10,000 unique characters, and Solana Monkey Business.
How many NFTs were minted on Solana?
Solana has seen a massive minting boom, with more than 110 million NFTs created on its blockchain. This huge number shows how fast the Solana ecosystem is growing in the NFT world. With low fees and quick transactions, Solana attracts both new and experienced creators.
What is the biggest NFT marketplace for Solana?
Magic Eden is the largest NFT marketplace on Solana, holding around 90% of all trading activity. On Magic Eden, you can buy, sell, and trade NFTs quickly, and its popularity comes from easy-to-use tools and low fees. It’s similar to OpenSea for Ethereum NFTs but tailored to Solana.
What is the difference between Ethereum NFT and Solana NFT?
Ethereum and Solana NFTs differ mainly in transaction costs and speeds. Ethereum is popular but has high gas fees, making trading or minting NFTs pricey. Solana, on the other hand, is faster and way cheaper, so people can buy and sell NFTs without paying a lot in fees. Ethereum is still more decentralized and well-established, but Solana is catching up, especially for those who want to trade NFTs more often.
