Virtual world NFTs now on Solana
Somnium Space, an immersive VR platform, has announced it’s taking its NFTs multi-chain after initially launching operations on Ethereum and the Polygon network. In a significant upgrade to services, Somnium Space will now support Solana NFTs and will integrate NEAR NFTs soon. The move will allow users to display Solana NFT art in Ethereum based land parcels, and vice versa. As well as opening up the ability to jump into the Ethereum based virtual world using a Solana NFT avatar.
The first support for Solana NFTs arrives in the shape of the platform’s latest tertiary land offering (TLO). TLO assets will be auctioned off on both the Ethereum based marketplace OpenSea, and the Solana-based NFT marketplace Holoplex. The land sale kicked off on the 14th of November and runs until December 18th. Less than 48 hours into the auction, 13 NFT items have been sold, generating a total of $251,516 so far.
Somnium Space assets (land and other items) are secured to the blockchain as NFTs. NFT holders have their assets registered on the blockchain and can move these between wallets. During the TLO, assets are minted and initially held by Somnium Space. People then bid on assets and upon completion, the winning bidder will receive the asset in their wallet. The registering of the NFT’s (minting), execution of the auction, and the transferring of assets are done on third-party NFT marketplaces – OpenSea and Holaplex. The process is not unfamiliar to bidding on physical objects in auctions. Like on eBay for example. However, to participate in the TLO you will need to prepare.
It is assumed that buyers may gravitate towards the Solana-based NFT assets as a way to avoid Ethereum gas fees. Although they can already do that on Polygon. Moreover, Somnium Space is starting to build out a truly multi-chain, virtual reality experience. Positioning itself to attract as many users, with as few barriers to entry as possible.
Land Sales Peaking in Virtual Worlds
Ever since Facebook’s Mark Zuckerburg announced the Meta name change attention has been almost squarely focussed on virtual worlds and the metaverse. Somnium Space allows people to fully submerge into a full VR world, hop in casually to attend an event, and visit their favorite parcel. It’s arguably the most advanced, immersive VR experience out there.
The platform has seen lots of traction recently. In the last 30 days, the total value of NFT land sales in the platform has exceeded $1.8 million. More interesting is that over $1.1 million of that figure arrived in the last two weeks. Or in other words, since Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook would rename itself to Meta.
Land plots are being scooped up as speculators and investors become more involved. Moreover, Somnium Space is starting to attract more eyes. The native CUBE token, used by residents of the virtual world to transact and buy and sell items in the marketplace is also having a moment. Having shot up over 480% in the last thirty days.