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%.
