The Solana network has gained traction among non-fungible token (NFT) traders, with total sales surging to more than $1.6 billion, making it the third most active blockchain in terms of NFT sales.
Data from NFT transaction tracker CryptoSlam confirms that Solana’s total sales have reached the milestone. Solana's popularity among traders is evident as it ranks second in total sales over the past 30 days, after Ethereum.
Axie Infinity’s gaming-specific Ethereum sidechain, Ronin, remains firmly in second place with $4 billion in total sales, but the recent Ronin bridge hack impacted the network’s weekly and monthly sales.
While Ethereum still leads by a huge margin, with $21 billion in total sales, Solana is closing in on the second-place position while creating greater distance from its own competitors.
Solana trading volumes are expected to rise this month after NFT marketplace OpenSea integrated Solana on its platform.
LooksRare Wash Trading
LooksRare, the second-largest NFT marketplace by volume, still appears to generate most of its volume through wash trading.
Bloomberg reported on April 5 that data from NFT tracker CryptoSlam showed that about $18 billion in transactions on the platform came from wash trading, accounting for 95% of the total transaction volume.
Wash trading is when an operator or user of a trading platform creates a series of back and forth trades in order to amplify what appears to be organic trading volume. In LooksRare’s case, traders were incentivized to wash trade due to the platform’s reward structure.
Investors who stake tokens on LooksRare will receive LOOKS tokens and WETH proportional to the trading volume of this market. The flood of wash trading appears to be masking a decline in the overall NFT market, with data from Dune Analytics showing that trading volumes on leading NFT marketplace OpenSea have fallen every month since January.
But DappRader senior analyst Pedro Herrera said that LooksRare's organic transactions are starting to slowly rise.
Ja Rule Sells Fyre Artwork
Rapper Ja Rule is selling an NFT of a painting from the Fyre Festival.
Buyers will receive NFTs and physical paintings. Ja Rule will also auction off four other NFTs of Fyre Festival artwork on Flipkick, with one starting at $600,000.
In 2017, producer Billy McFarland decided to promote a party on a tropical island. He hired a number of influencers and artists, including Ja Rule, to produce promotional content for it. However, the festival didn't live up to the hype — not even the basic promise of adequate facilities — and McFarland was forced to pay a multimillion-dollar fine for defrauding ticket buyers.
The most expensive NFT in the world
Metaverse yacht company Cyber Yachts wants to sell the most expensive NFTs ever, including a 120-meter giant virtual yacht called "Indah", which will sell for a whopping $400 million. However, the NFT doesn't offer all the value, as buyers get a real-world 394-foot megayacht based on the same design, built by a respected luxury yacht shipyard.
The NFT yacht will be a virtual replica of the physical yacht deployed on Monsoon Blockchain Corporation's NFT platform.
Other NFT News
Ledger has now partnered with metaverse platform and NFT game The Sandbox to promote education in virtual worlds. Ian Rodgers, chief experience officer at Ledger, said the partnership is also expected to bring more security to The Sandbox.
Enterprise NFT creator Skey Network has launched a strategic funding round worth $5 million to develop the Go2NFT platform. Counterfeit products currently account for 2.5% of global transactions, and the platform will provide NFT solutions for businesses looking to protect their products from counterfeiting.
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