Solana [SOL] network has been garnering a lot of attention despite its current price rut. In a positive development, the blockchain became the preferred choice for a brand new nonfungible token [NFT] platform called Fractal, co-founded by Twitch pioneer Justin Kan. Gone are the days where OpenSea had a complete monopoly over the digital collectibles space, competing startups like Fractal are making a beeline for the ‘low-fee high-bandwidth structure’ of the layer 1 network that provides an ideal ground to build NFT projects.
According to the blog post, the new forum is being built based on opportunities arising in the gaming and so-called play-to-earn titles, that allow users to buy avatars and other digital goods. Citing the example of Fortnite who made billions by selling its in-game assets, the platform has been looking to establish support for blockchain gaming entities and create a space for the free exchange of digital goods.
To achieve this, Kan stated his team would be partnering with several prominent gaming firms that are prepping to launch NFTs and would be building tools to facilitate these gaming studios in acquiring customers at scale. Kan and the rest of the team are hoping for the launch of the Fractal platform in the next weeks.
Kan who co-founded Twitch back in 2007 has been currently focusing on his entrepreneurship-focused YouTube channel and podcast as well as the incubator fund called Goat Capital, of which Fractal is the product. Revealing more on his start-up, Kan noted,
“Players will be able to discover, buy and sell gaming NFTs on Fractal, through both a primary market [initial drops by gaming companies] and a secondary market [p2p trading]. Eventually, we see ourselves creating infrastructure for emergent use cases of NFTs as well, such as the lending/scholarship model in some play-to-earn games.”
Recent network struggle in Solana – trouble in the paradise?
Despite being at the forefront of several high-profile partnerships, congestion issues are becoming an irritant for Solana. The Layer 1 blockchain suffered network congestion on 13 December, this year following the launch of the highly anticipated NFT project called SolChicks token on Raydium. Shortly after that, Solana Labs CEO Anatoly Yakovenko posted a series of tweets in response to a post inquiring about the issues, and stated, “fixes are baking, should be ready soon.”