Cardano NFTs grow from strength to strength – enough to flip Ethereum and Solana?

• After a slow start to the year, Cardano NFTs have picked up momentum.
• Despite various milestones, collections under the blockchain have not matched up to their Ethereum counterparts.

Over the last few years, the Non-Fungible Token (NFT) market has grown to become a billion-dollar industry. However, it seems like the sector has not reached its peak, as SkyQuest Technology predicted that the market value could surpass $122 billion by 2028.

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Two undeniable contributors to the current market level are the Ethereum [ETH] blockchain and Solana [SOL]. However, these are not the only ones that have had significant input into the ecosystem.

Cardano [ADA] NFTs have also had a tremendous impact on the sector. DappRadar, in October 2022, reported that the Cardano NFTs had become the third-biggest protocol in the ecosystem.

At that time, Cardano had just completed its much-anticipated Vasil upgrade. The upgrade, which was meant to enhance block latency speed and efficiency on the blockchain, propelled an increase in Unique Active Wallets (UAW) on the blockchain. The report noted,

“The Cardano marketplace JPG Store had a 13.66% growth in the number of unique active wallets in the last 30 days. Moreover, the NFT marketplace saw a 40% increase in trading volume, reaching $11.2 million.”

This metric shows the number of distinct addresses interacting with decentralized applications (dApps) under a protocol. In turn, this led to the NFT volume crossing $19 million within 30 days of the period. 

Source: DappRadar

Cardano NFTs: The journey to relevance

Cardano, known for its scalability and sustainability, entered the NFT space with CardanoKidz being the first collection. Although this collection started in a rookie way, as there was no real utility, it could still sell out using the ADA native token standard. 

Though several projects followed, Cardano has still not been able to flip Ethereum and Solana, the two prominent platforms in the NFT market. 

Ethereum has long been the dominant player in the NFT space. However, its network congestion and high gas fees have caused some users to explore alternative platforms. Solana, on the other hand, has gained attention for its fast and low-cost transactions. 

However, Cardano’s foray into NFTs brings its own unique advantages, such as its focus on sustainability and the promise of interoperability. But it doesn’t just end there as here are three other unique features of Cardano NFTs:

• Cardano NFTs can be created without the need for smart contracts.
• Since the blockchain is divided into the settlement and computational layers, fees can be very minimal.
• Cardano NFTs allow a bunch of transfers of assets with multiple destinations but only one transaction fee.

Today’s worth isn’t yesterday’s value

However, it remains to be seen if these features can help Cardano NFTs outperform Ethereum and Solana and reshape the NFT landscape. But surely, their entry certainly adds more diversity and competition to the market.

Coincidentally, there seems to have been a change in Cardano’s performance in the space. According to Santiment, the last quarter (Q4) of 2022 was not really an impressive season for the NFTs. And this lasted until mid-March of the new year.

But since that period, interest in Cardano NFTs has been massive. Based on on-chain data, the NFT trade volume reached a Year-To-Date (YTD) high of $16.98 million on 18 March. After another period of highs and lows, it was able to record a monthly high of 8.68 million on 2 May, despite only being in the first week.

Source: Santiment

This means that many traders now considered Cardano NFTs as one with potential, even as a lot of unique addresses seemed to have jumped ship. 

Shares, developments, and prospect for the future

Meanwhile, Cardano’s development arm Input Output was not taking any chances of losing out on the NFT market share. On 14 April, the group announced the launch of Lace.io, its first native wallet. 

Lace, the new wallet platform from IOG, aims to redefine the #Web3 experience & make it accessible to everyone.

Explore @lace_io’s pre-launch achievements, its core objectives, features, and journey now that it’s LIVE on mainnet.#LacePlatform #Cardano https://t.co/JnezJnudML

— Input Output (@InputOutputHK) April 14, 2023

And according to its blog post, the Lace wallet would allow users to send and receive Cardano digital assets. Thus, helping to boost Cardano’s presence in the NFT scene.

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Although Cardano has been pushing toward increased adoption, it has not yet matched Ethereum’s hype. But many other collections have emerged including EarthNode, Mocossi Planet, and Clay Nation, among others. Also, JPG Store has been its largest marketplace, accounting for over 99% of the market share in the last 24 hours.

Source: OpenCNFT

In conclusion, the rise of Cardano NFTs presents an intriguing prospect for the future of the digital collectibles market. Furthermore, its potential to challenge the dominance of Ethereum and Solana has positioned it as a promising alternative for NFT creators and collectors. 

However, the success of Cardano NFTs in flipping Ethereum and Solana ultimately depends on various factors, including network adoption, developer support, and user demand.