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Magic Eden vs Tensor, Solana x Mastercard & More

Also: Mad Lads demonstrate capabilities of executable NFTs.

May 02, 2023

Welcome back!

This is J264G and this week we’ve got these titbits for you:

  • Magic Eden vs Tensor: The incumbent faces the innovator's dilemma.

  • NFT Evolution: Mad Lads demonstrate capabilities of executable NFTs.

  • Solana x Mastercard: Solana powers Mastercard's web3 initiative.

Warning 🚨 The Solana community has taken control of the ship ⬇️

We are the captains now 🫡

Let’s get into it!

Click on any underlined heading / hyperlink to learn more.

Spotlight

Magic Eden vs Tensor

Market share is earned, not owned.

This reality must have dawned on the movers and shakers at Magic Eden, Solana's largest NFT marketplace, last week.

Why?

Because Tensor, a new NFT trading platform, eclipsed the incumbent in sales volume on the back of the Mad Lads mint.

​​This is significant, as Tensor was bootstrapped until a $3 million seed round — while Magic Eden raised ~ $170 million at a $1.6 billion valuation.

The contrast between the two platforms could simply not be more extreme.

This begs the question: How could a small, nimble team at Tensor outpace Magic Eden — a company which has the first mover advantage, brand recognition, and seemingly unlimited capital?

The answer is simple: A chain of errors.

  • Lack of focus: Magic Eden started out on Solana and after dominating the market quickly expanded to other networks such as Ethereum, Polygon, and Bitcoin. By doing so, it seems as if the team became too focused on their own priorities and internal processes, rather than on the needs and preferences of their core user base on Solana.

  • Superficial market research: OpenSea’s expansion to Solana was a resounding failure, as the platform was never able to get a foothold in the market. Based on this, Magic Eden could have known that expanding to other networks would not necessarily put them on a trajectory of success, but rather stretch resources thin.

  • Resistance to change: Solana is increasingly embracing open source. Magic Eden, however, seems to skirt these changing market conditions and user preferences. This may be because the company hasn't recognised this shift, hasn't invested in defendable business models, or hasn't built a moat which would allow it to thrive in an OSS ecosystem.

A chain of errors can be detrimental, just ask Blackberry, Myspace, or Credit Suisse.

  • Blackberry was a popular smartphone that was widely used by professionals and government agencies. However, the company failed to keep up with the innovation of Apple's iPhone and other Android devices — which led to the loss of market share and a production stop of their iconic smartphones in 2016.

  • Myspace was one of the first social media platforms to gain widespread popularity. The company’s market share declined when it was unable to keep up with the innovation and user-friendly features of Facebook and other platforms. Myspace was eventually sold to a digital marketing company in 2011.

  • Credit Suisse, the second-largest bank in Switzerland, collapsed and was bought by rival UBS in March 2023 due to numerous scandals, mismanagement, and a rotating group of executives. The bank was founded in 1856 and was among a group of 30 banks known to be systemically important for the global financial system.

Can Magic Eden overcome its current crisis?

150% — I couldn't be more bullish!

However, this would require improved decision-making, employee engagement, stakeholder relationships, innovation, and adaptability.

As such, I’d love to see less of this:

And more of this:

I, for my part, am rooting for both Magic Eden and Tensor to thrive.

More competition creates a healthier and more efficient market — benefiting both businesses and users alike.

Chart Of The Week

News Bites

NFT Evolution: A couple of weeks ago, the Mad Lads NFT collection was minted in the Backpack wallet. As previously mentioned, Mad Lad NFTs are xNFTs — basically applications — that allow for rich and immersive token-gated experiences. Two of these experiences have already been demonstrated: in-wallet games and in-wallet videos. Having said that, these only seem to be some of the use cases the Backpack team is currently trailing and testing out.

Also, Backpack is now available in public beta.

Solana x Mastercard: The Solana Foundation has partnered up with Mastercard to help secure interactions between web2 and web3 apps.

Top 10 DEX: Based on market share, Jupiter — a token swap aggregator on Solana — is now listed among the top 10 DEXs across all blockchains.

Solana x ChatGPT: Solana Labs released an open-source reference implementation for a ChatGPT plugin. This allows users to check wallet balances, transfer tokens, and purchase NFTs once ChatGPT plugins are available.

Solana Sleuthing: The popular Twitter sleuth ZachXB has turned his attention to Solana and has now completed his first investigation of multiple projects on the network. Apart from that, ZachXB gave explorers such as SolanaFM and others feedback on how to improve their products and services to make sleuthing on Solana easier and more effective.

Caught In 4K

Weekly Take

Keks & Giggles

And that's a wrap!

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Talk soon!