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Messari published an in-depth report on Metaplex, highlighting its impact on the Solana ecosystem and its role in defining the standards for digital assets. Here are the key takeaways:
Metaplex by the Numbers
Weekly protocol revenue grew +350% YoY, surpassing $1.2M.
800M+ assets minted across 9M wallets.
Metaplex powers 99% of NFT issuance and 90% of token issuance on Solana.
Over 705M transactions in 2024 alone.
The Digital Asset Standard (DAS)
Metaplex’s Digital Asset Standard (DAS) is the foundation for Solana’s digital asset ecosystem, ensuring interoperability and liquidity across NFTs, fungible tokens, RWAs, DePIN, gaming assets, and more. Similar to Ethereum’s ERC-20 and ERC-721, DAS defines how digital assets function on Solana, making it the default standard for creators and developers.
Core
Metaplex’s Core standard is redefining NFTs and digital assets on Solana, offering better efficiency, lower costs, and more flexibility for digital assets. Core introduces a single-account design, reducing minting costs and improving network performance. It also supports programmable assets through a plugin system, allowing for features like built-in staking, dynamic attributes, and delegated permissions.
Core, alongside Token Metadata and cNFTs, powers 99% of NFT issuance and 90% of token issuance on Solana, ensuring interoperability across wallets, marketplaces, and applications.
Aura
Aura, Metaplex’s decentralized data network, improves indexing, querying, and data availability for Solana and SVM-based applications. $MPLX now plays a key role, required for node operation and data access payments, further expanding its utility.
Ecosystem Adoption
Metaplex’s infrastructure is widely adopted across major Solana applications, including:
Marketplaces: Magic Eden, Tensor, SolSniper
Wallets: Phantom, Backpack, Solflare
DePIN projects: Helium Mobile, Hivemapper
AI-powered tools: Griffain, SendAI
SVM: Eclipse, Sonic
Governance and MPLX Utility
Metaplex is governed by the Metaplex DAO, with $MPLX holders influencing protocol decisions, including:
Metaplex Improvement Proposals (MIPs) for upgrades on the protocol.
$MPLX Grant Proposals to fund ecosystem growth.
Buybacks, with 50% of protocol fees used to purchase $MPLX for the DAO treasury.
The Future of Metaplex
As the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) expands, Metaplex continues to shape the digital asset landscape with new indexing, data availability, and asset management tools. With integrations into emerging SVM networks like Eclipse and SonicSVM, Metaplex remains the backbone of the onchain economy of Solana and the SVM.
Read the full Messari report here: https://messari.io/report/understanding-metaplex
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