Can Solana’s new community-centric NFT marketplace revitalize SOL

The Solana blockchain network has seen significant efforts toward NFT support in the past. Initial days saw Solana marketing itself as a more affordable option for the NFT market compared to Ethereum.

While those efforts have contributed to network usage, Solana is still not the NFT powerhouse that the world expected.

Here’s AMBCrypto’s price prediction for Solana (SOL)

But is there still a chance for the realization of those expectations? Well, Solana has added a new NFT platform called Night Market to its Arsenal.

The new NFT market aims to rejuvenate demand for Solana NFTs. The unique thing about this new NFT market is that it has a community-centric approach. This means incentives and rewards can be built around developers and users to encourage more usage.

Welcome to Night Market – the new home of Solana's creators, collectors, and degens.

?? Here's what we're all about. All interactions will be considered. pic.twitter.com/f5dgTWLBOQ

— Night Market by Motley Labs (?, ?) (@nightmarketio) October 25, 2022

Deploying the right strategy for NFTs can be the difference between low or high organic traffic from the NFT market. However, there are many other variables that are involved.

That being said, the Night Market is a fresh addition to Solana, hence it is yet to be put to the test. Nevertheless, this addition might bolster Solana utility and potentially boost organic demand for Solana NFTs and the SOL cryptocurrency.

The demand for Solana NFTs has notably reduced in the last six months. This might have something to do with the bear market and the shift away from risk-on-asset classes.

Source: Santiment

Solana’s low NFT activity in 2022 has unsurprisingly been linked to the bearish market conditions. Its total NFT count metric demonstrates this.

For example, the Solana NFT count registered its largest 6-month spike in the second half of June. This is around the same time that the market embarked on a recovery after bottoming out near mid-June.

Source: Santiment

Chances are that we might see another spike in NFT volumes if the market embarks on another strong bull run. Solana is already in a better position to deliver as per the needs of the NFT market courtesy of Night Market.

Is the next bullish wave already in play?

October’s bearish market conditions resulted in a retest of SOL’s lower 2022 range. It almost retested June lows after dropping as low as $26.84 last week. Its $31.25 press time price meant it was already up by more than 15% from last week’s low.

Source: TradingView

The bullish run-up observed in the last two days has restored expectations of another major bullish relief. Unfortunately, it is still too early to tell whether this is the start of the next bullish rally. The upside is also facing resistance after interacting with the 50-day Moving Average.

Solana’s real volume had already started cooling down after a large spike.

Source: Messari

The drop in volume after the large spike may indicate a lack of follow-up volume to support more upside.