The Cost-Saving Feature on Solana
The cost-saving feature on Solana is the reason behind the spike in the number of NFTs minted on Solana. Bubblegum is used for weighing down the cost of interacting with NFTs on Solana.
Solana Blockchain: A Hub for 3 Million Weekly NFTs
Solana blockchain shows 3 Million NFTs minted weekly. The reason is its cost-effective feature that is provided with the use of a tool called Bubblegum. Its main adopter is Drup Haus, a project that facilitates creators to mint and airdrop NFTs. Drip has been offering Bubblegum’s compression technology since early 2023.
Cost Comparison: Solana vs. Ethereum
The use of the Solana blockchain has increased due to its cost-saving feature. It has low fees as compared to Ethereum. A token transferred on Ethereum costs $0.63 whereas the transaction on Solana costs a fraction of a cent.
Bubblegum and Merkle Trees
Bubblegum uses Merkle Trees to bring down the cost of cNFTs (compressed NFTs). It is a data structure that involves scanning the items in a Merkle Tree scales logarithmically. This means that minting larger numbers of NFTs results in lower costs per NFT.
Minting Trends and Market Presence
Minting does not show that there is an increase in the hot market for NFTs on Solana. Solscan data shows volume in SOL terms for NFTs has been relatively flat over the last 90 days.
Metaplex’s Contribution: Bubblegum and Candy Machine
Metaplex developed Bubblegum which also provides the foundation for launching NFTs on Solana called Candy Machine. It upgraded its protocol in January to permit creators of NFTs to impose royalties.
Growing Popularity of cNFTs
Somehow it impacts the sales of the NFTs. The cNFTs have gained popularity not only in terms of minting but also contributed remarkably to the monthly sales. In August, they initiated 21.5% of Solana NFTs total sales volume which shows their growing market presence.
Challenges and Innovations
However, many regulatory challenges are placed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the NFT market. SEC initiated its first imposition against Impact Theory which is a Web3 company that generated $30 Million by selling three tiers of NFT offerings.
Magic Eden’s Support for cNFTs
Magic Eden marketplace has announced that it will support the Solanan compressed NFTs to provide a cost-effective alternative to owning digital collectibles. On social media platform X Magic Eden posted that cNFTs are a new wave of NFT creation only possible on Solana that allows the production of NFTs at a fraction of the cost of traditional NFTs minting.
Summary
The cost of minting and interacting on Solana with NFTs is reduced with the use of the tool Bubblegum. It uses compressed techniques, and that results in minting over 3M NFTs weekly.
