coindesk.com
FTX.US is moving into the non-fungible token ($NFT) business with a trading platform for digital collectibles on the Solana blockchain.
On Monday, the U.S. wing of Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire said its new marketplace, FTX NFTs, will allow users to trade, mint, auction and authenticate Solana-based NFTs. It plans to soon support Ethereum NFTs, the home to the bulk of non-fungibles trading.
The exchange’s prioritization of Solana instead highlights two realities: Sam Bankman-Fried is heavily invested in the Solana ecosystem; and that ecosystem, while host to a handful of so-called “blue chip” projects, doesn’t yet have a juggernaut marketplace for $NFT trades.
Instead, it features a scattered array of lesser-known marketplaces sometimes hosted by projects themselves. Solanart and Solsea both charge 3% sales fees. FTX US says its new platform will take two percent of the trade.
The choice could bolster Solana’s bid for a bigger slice of the $NFT business. The blockchain is faster and cheaper to use than Ethereum’s. That hasn’t been enough to convince the vast majority of $NFT activity to move over, however.
FTX said it will support all Solana NFTs that follow $NFT protocol Metaplex’s standard. It will not allow users to list revenue-sharing projects and is capping artist royalty schemes at 40%.