Solana Blockchain Usage To Mint NFTs Surge To A New High

The Solana blockchain has seen increased activity in the last few days. According to on-chain data, the number of NFTs minted or created on the Ethereum scaling solution's blockchain rose from 39,000 on Sept. 4 to 312,000 on Sept. 7.

The Block Research's Data Dashboard confirmed the volume of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) based on the Solana blockchain had surged considerably in the last few days. The total value for the volume hit $11.5 million on Sept. 6, which was the highest level since May, The Block reported.

Magic Eden, a Solana-based NFT marketplace, saw its market share surge from 12% at the beginning of September to 36.6% on Sept. 7, i.e., almost tripling its value.

This comes at a time when the NFT market is dealing with numerous hacks, attacks and scams, along with a significant decline in the prices of NFTs. Furthermore, the overall interest in these blockchain-based art pieces has declined as well, according to Google Trends.

"It's so true. It felt like cold calling—a lot of people not taking Solana NFT space seriously," co-founder of NFT platform Metaplex Stephen Hess told The Block in a phone interview.

Solana rose to popularity soon after its creation because of its speed, scalability and additional features. It followed a newly-discovered proof-of-history consensus, which further attracted the attention of developers.

While the blockchain saw unrivaled success last year, it also suffered multiple outages. Last month, Solana-based Phantom wallet and Slope wallet users saw their funds being withdrawn at a rapid pace and analysts struggled to find the origin of the exploit.

The Ethereum scaling solution's co-founder, Anatoly Yakovenko, recently explained why the outages became a common event for Solana. According to Yakovenko, its transaction speed doesn't leave much wiggle room and poses various challenges for the smart contract platform.