Tensor, an NFT marketplace that launched in July 2022, is leading the surge for Solana-based NFT marketplaces, recently overtaking previously leader Magic Eden in total trading volume.
According to data from Tiexo, Tensor’s trading volume rose to $83 million in the last 30 days, giving the relatively new marketplace just over 60% of the total Solana market share. Magic Eden, which has been the dominant marketplace for Solana-based NFTs thus far, had 29% of total volume.
However, Magic Eden still claims more unique wallet users, with around 118,000 wallets compared to Tensor’s 90,000. This suggests that Tensor NFT traders are trading higher volumes than Magic Eden’s traders.
Tensor has managed to become a leader in the market through several strategies, not least of which is creating a professional looking terminal similar to Blur’s to appeal to people who are financially savvy and analytically-minded.
The co-founder of Tensor, Ilja Moisejevs, said that in the beginning Tensor “listened to user feedback and kept iterating,” that they’ve turned the product over like thirty times. He added that the marketplace has stayed loyal to Solana, and even when the price of SOL dipped to all-time lows, his team “stayed and doubled down.” He believes that Solana will be the “chain that brings crypto and [NFTs] in particular to the masses.”
While Crypto Twitter (X) likes to dramatize things and talk about a battle of marketplaces, earlier in the year Moisejevs told TechCrunch that “there’s healthy competition between us and Magic Eden.” He hopes both marketplaces will be successful, and said that Tensor “will be a bigger business if Solana” does well as a chain.
And recently, that’s been the case: The news of Tensor’s dominance last month comes at a time when the SOL token has seen a huge recovery. According to data from CoinGecko, SOL is up 60% over the past 30 days and a whopping 408% on the year.
The Blur NFT Marketplace Effect
When Blur launched its NFT marketplace in October 2022, it took the NFT world by storm. Led by 24-year-old Tieshun Roquerre (@PacmanBlur), the marketplace primarily focused on being a home for professional NFT traders. While many doubted the new marketplace at first, Blur has become a top player in the space, and its strategy of putting pro traders first appears to be influencing other marketplaces — including Tensor.
For example, while Tensor hopes to attract casual traders to its ecosystem, it first launched as a marketplace dedicated to pro traders and degens. There have even been rumors that Tensor could introduce a token airdrop strategy like Blur did in February of this year (Blur did so to reward Ethereum NFT traders on the platform).
Though the token drop remains speculative, Tensor has released its own NFT collection called the Tensorian NFTs, which serve to grant holders access to exclusive chat rooms and professional trading products. The collection, released in September, has a current floor price of 87 SOL (around $6000), with a total market cap of 834,550 SOL ($57.4 million).
Furthermore, there is speculation on Crypto Twitter (X) that OpenSea is planning on releasing OpenSea 2.0 and potentially dropping their own token to users. Though details are sparse, the OG marketplace recently finished conducting research on OpenSea 2.0, and some traders think they are aiming to combine OpenSea with OpeaSea Pro — a move that could reinvent the struggling marketplace more in the image of Blur and Tensor.
As the NFT marketplace wars heat up, the strategy of catering to professional traders appears to be part of everyone’s playbook. Whether Tensor can maintain its position as the top Solana-based NFT marketplace remains to be seen. But for now, Tensor and its team have reason to celebrate.
As alwaysWe’ll be following up on any developments to the story.