For this week’s episode, we’re resharing a conversation I had in June 2023 with Jack Lu, CEO and co-founder of Magic Eden.
When we recorded this episode, NFT sales were down around $640 million at the beginning of the month, compared to today where February 2023 NFT sales volume hit $1 billion, for the first time since February 2023.
Looking back on this conversation, we decided this episode was a great addition to the NFT series to add some context for what a crazy year it has been, how much things have changed (and some things stayed the same) especially for people building in the NFT space.
Magic Eden originally began as a Solana-based NFT trading platform, but has expanded its support to other blockchain networks like Polygon, Ethereum and Bitcoin. In June 2022, Magic Eden raised $130 million in a Series B round that granted it unicorn status.
We discussed why the NFT marketplace expanded its support to other blockchains, its BRC-20 token support and how the company plans on staying competitive in the constantly changing market.
We also talked about:
(0:00) Introduction
(2:46) Bitcoin ecosystems and new technology standards
(7:30) Magic Eden’s place within NFT marketplaces
(19:05) Royalties and creator monetization
(24:42) NFT’s staying power
Chain Reaction comes out every Thursday at 12:00 p.m. ET, so be sure to subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite pod platform to keep up with the action.
The Post-Merge Ethereum Hangover
A crypto market vibe check (w/ Seth Ginns)
Chain Reaction x Equity talk the Ethereum Merge
Private equity’s gatekeepers get serious about tokens
The cult of crypto shakes up its leadership team (w/ Meltem Demirors)
Binance flexes its stablecoin muscles
Who are the artists behind your favorite NFTs? (w/ James Zhang)
The Merge and its meaning for ETH and beyond
Magic Eden threatens OpenSea’s NFT dominance (w/ Jack Lu)
Bonus Episode: The road ahead for crypto startups (w/ Haun Ventures)
Is FTX really worth two Coinbases?
The Bachelor, but on the blockchain (w/ Devin Lewtan)
The man behind Terra’s not-so-stablecoin is back
Can the web3 “passion economy” pay the bills? (w/ Li Jin)
Tornado Cash is not just for criminals, despite what regulators think
How Uniswap became DeFi’s behemoth (w/ MC Lader)
Hackers are stealing crypto in the nicest way possible
The SEC preps for a summer of crypto regulation (w/ David Nage)
Crypto winters, DAO death and the future of community investing (w/ Alexander Taub)
Identifying lasting web3 trends from crypto’s bull run (w/ Naveen Jain)
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