Magic Eden, the leading cross-chain non-fungible token marketplace, announced the launch of its Polygon Creator Fund last Thursday. The Fund will have $1 million and be dispersed among various projects that want to innovate within the Polygon ecosystem. The grants will focus on NFT projects, which have recently thrived on the Layer 2 blockchain.
On the website for the Fund, the marketplace wrote that because the bear market has been rough on everyone, it’s encouraging builders who are already within the Polygon ecosystem to support up-and-comers. But being admitted to the fund and receiving a piece of the pie will not be an easy process.
The application page for the Fund shows that aspiring founders will need to submit various details of their projects, including the team members (resumes, LinkedIn profiles), any partnerships already formed, public information channels like X (formerly Twitter) and the website, as well as references.
All applicants will be evaluated based on the originality of their idea, the feasibility of their projects, the strength and diversity of their team, and their plan to build a vibrant community. All told, Magic Eden values creativity, vision, and drive — which it hopes will lead to projects bringing the next wave of NFT adoption on Polygon.
Chris Akhavan, Chief Gaming Officer at Magic Eden, told Rarity Sniper, “The creator fund we’re launching is designed to incubate quality Polygon projects and we hope it will expand the space in a meaningful way.”
“By providing some financial and advisory support, we want to encourage aspiring and existing NFT community creators to focus on product innovation, community building, and thoughtful roadmap planning. We have seen that Polygon remains a core blockchain choice for creators and believe that this initiative has the power to shape the next generation of creators within its NFT ecosystem.”
Polygon: The Blockchain for Mass Adoption
Polygon, a scaling solution on Ethereum, made some big news last week by becoming the No. 2 blockchain for NFT trading. Most of the trades on the chain are micro-transactions, which the co-founder of Polygon calls a “dream come true for the crypto community,” and traders buy and sell on the blockchain often with credit cards, a must-need for mass adoption.
It’s also been in the news for its partnerships with Web2 companies. Although it may not be the home for Web3 natives, the blockchain has become a bridge between the crypto community and non-natives, which many see as a win for the space. Here is a quick list of the companies that have partnered with Polygon in the last two years:
- DraftKings
- Starbucks
- Stripe
- Disney
- Adidas
- The NFL
- Meta
And it’s been active in the Web3 community too. Three months ago, the co-founder of Polygon started a Web3 fellowship program that offers $500,000 worth in grants to projects focused on bringing mass adoption to the new tech. Participants would receive money and support, two crucial ingredients for people building projects in the space.
There’s also its new initiative to become “the value layer of the Internet,” which will revolutionize the whole Polygon ecosystem. As well, it’s one of the few carbon-neutral blockchains in existence, a reason for why it’s acquired so many Web2 company partnerships.
In a bear market where cryptocurrency and NFT projects have fallen so much, Polygon keeps building. And that’s a good sign for a space that has fallen on hard times.