Electric Capital and Greylock led a $130 million Series B fundraising round for Magic Eden, the biggest non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace on Solana.
The investment, which closed on Tuesday, values the platform at $1.6 billion, placing it online with OpenSea’s Series B financing, which saw the biggest Ethereum NFT marketplace reach a $13 billion valuation in a Series C round earlier this year.
According to a news statement, Magic Eden wants to utilize the capital to develop its core and secondary marketplaces, as well as investigate the multi-chain potential.
Magic Eden’s CEO, Jack Lu, stated in a statement that the company understands that NFTs are the most effective approach to getting consumers on the blockchain.
NFTs are fun, social, and cultural experiences that link people all over the world. During this period of significant expansion for both the company and the industry, Magic Eden took the strategic decision to support both its producers and users.
Magic Eden is currently the kingpin of the Solana NFT community, handling over 90% of the ecosystem’s volume and gaining popularity in recent months.
In terms of daily transactions and volume, the marketplace is currently on par with, if not exceeding, OpenSea.
The Magic Eden fundraising comes amid an otherwise gloomy crypto atmosphere, with prices for the NFT ecosystem’s fundamental currencies, such as SOL and ETH, falling by as much as 80% from their all-time highs in the previous year.
In March, Magic Eden raised a $27 million Series A round-headed by Paradigm, Sequoia, and Solana Ventures.
Given the current situation of the cryptocurrency market, institutional investors are beginning to pull back on their investments. Lu, on the other hand, is unconcerned.
Markets will do what markets do, he added via email, and Magic Eden is enthusiastic to build on a 10-year time horizon.
He went on to say that the company views this money as a reflection of its investors’ faith in Magic Eden and the broader crypto industry.
The increased funding will enable the company to meet its aim of onboarding the next billion people to Web3 without being hampered by market cycles.
NFT is becoming the new trend, and this investment comes as no surprise given that many investors can see the ecosystem’s market expansion.
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