Highlights

- 718k monthly unique signers, the second highest month of all-time

- 3.0 million new wallets collected an NFT created through Metaplex, the fourth largest monthly increase of all-time.

- Metaplex shipped Core to mainnet, the next-generation standard for digital assets on Solana

- Core Candy Machine was released, a new minting program built specifically for Core

- Metaplex Foundation announced a new partnership with BuildWithMonkeDAO to support Solana builders

- The Metaplex Protocol generated 8,129 SOL in protocol fees

Protocol Activity

In April, creators and developers minted 38 million NFTs through Metaplex, including 811k Token Metadata NFTs (+4.5% MoM), 37 million compressed NFTs (-62.7% MoM), and 72k Core assets. The month-over-month decline in compressed NFTs minted was driven by DRiP moving the majority of its minting offchain due to Solana network congestion and challenges landing transactions. 

Additionally in April, Metaplex surpassed more than 800k cumulative token metadata create instructions since the protocol’s inception related to the creation of fungible tokens. Through Token Metadata, Metaplex manages the metadata for most fungible tokens on Solana.   

Secondary trading of Solana NFTs declined 45% to $187 million in April amidst the broader market volatility.

718k unique wallets directly signed transactions with the protocol in April, the second highest month of all-time. 

There were 42 million unique transactions signed this month, with the month-over-month decline being driven by a decrease in compressed NFTs minted.

In April, Metaplex was the fourth largest Solana protocol based on transactions and the fourth largest protocol based on active wallets. 

As of April, the total number of Metaplex collectors reached 50 million unique wallets, an increase of 3.0 million wallets month-over-month, the fourth largest monthly increase of all-time and a 6% increase month-over-month.

Developer Platform

Core

In April, Core, the next-generation standard for digital assets on Solana, went live on mainnet, providing a better, cheaper, and more customizable experience for developers, creators, and collectors. The single-account model and flexible plugin system are designed to streamline the developer experience and reduce minting costs. During this month, over 70,000 Core Digital Assets were minted.

Metaplex celebrated the launch of Core during NFT.NYC, co-hosting an event with Claynosaurz and powering their booster packs as redeemable Core digital assets. Additionally, MonkeDAO used Core to mint their exclusive NYC POAPs.

One of the first plugins was shipped to devnet, the Edition plugin. This plugin stores an Edition Number within the asset, allowing for the creation of numbered editions similar to the Edition concept in Token Metadata. It’s particularly useful for creating prints of the same asset and can be grouped using the Master Edition Plugin. Some use cases include limited edition art releases and serialized collectibles.

Many key platforms have integrated support for Core, including Tensor, Sniper, Solflare, OKX Wallet, Phantom, Extrnode, Triton, Quicknode, Helius, Shyft, Truffle, Mallow, dReader, Underdog Protocol, Solana.fm, Solscan, Matrica and Simplehash. These integrations highlight the broad adoption and support for Core within the ecosystem.

The Metaplex community actively participated in initiatives such as the Dactyl Raffle by Claynosaurz, with raffle tickets being Core digital assets; the Core Thread Writing Bounty, which received over 100 submissions, showcasing community engagement and interest; and the launch of the MIND.sessions, a series of Core NFTs. Additionally, Claimfund switched to using Core, with developer Mike (heymike.sol) rewriting the logic of Claimfund just days before a hackathon ended to leverage the capabilities of Core. Aurory, the popular Solana NFT community and game, announced they would be converting their collection to Core as part of their upcoming art upgrade. And community member Leo, who recently joined Metaplex Foundation as a Community Developer, released several primers on the power of Core.

Core Candy Machine

The Core Candy Machine is now live on mainnet, unlocking the power to mint Core digital assets with this optimized tool built specifically for Core. This development aims to streamline the minting process and enhance the overall user experience.

CU Optimizations and Bubblegum

In April, Metaplex deployed package v4.0.0 and crate v0.1.3 for Bubblegum (Compressed NFT Program) to devnet. This deployment removes a deprecated CPI to Token Metadata, saving up to 30,000 CU and removing two required accounts. CU optimizations for Token Metadata and Bubblegum are live on devnet, improving efficiency for both standards and globally decreasing network congestion.

MIP-7: Edition Print Authorities

In April, MIP-7 went live on mainnet, allowing creators to list their master editions for sale on multiple marketplaces simultaneously. This new feature provides creators with more flexibility and control over their sales, while also benefiting marketplaces by eliminating the need for creators to choose a single platform for listing their work.

Community 

Metaplex Partners with BuildWithMonkeDAO

In April, Metaplex partnered with BuildWithMonkeDAO, adding $MPLX tokens to BuildWithMonkeDAO’s grant program alongside Solana Foundation’s $USDC contribution. This collaboration aims to fund open-source projects and consumer-facing products, providing grantees with access to MonkeDAO's network and resources.

IslandDAOx Sponsorship

Metaplex is sponsoring IslandDAOx, a month-long coworking event in Crete. This event offers a luxury beachfront villa with various workspaces, panels, workshops, and networking activities to foster collaboration and innovation. Metaplex will be hosting developer workshops covering Core during the third and fourth weeks.

Metaplex DAO

Metaplex Protocol Fees

In April, the Metaplex Protocol generated 8,129 SOL in fees. As previously announced by the Metaplex Foundation, 50% of these fees will be used to purchase $MPLX which will be contributed to the Metaplex DAO treasury for use by the DAO to support Metaplex community initiatives and continued adoption of the protocol. 

MIP-9: Composability Improvements

The DAO voted to pass MIP-9 this month, which aims to improve composability by limiting certain compressed NFT configurations that enable malicious spam.

Metaplex Whitepaper NFT Incentive Program

The DAO rejected a proposal that would have granted 12,050,000 $MPLX over one year to holders of the Metaplex Whitepaper NFT, a free commemorative NFT that was given to those who claimed the original $MPLX airdrop in 2022.

Application Ecosystem

The Solana ecosystem continues to grow with various new applications and services testing and discovering product market fit:

• Mallow was the first to adopt the new edition listing update (MIP-7), allowing creators to list master editions on multiple marketplaces simultaneously. Additionally the art focused marketplace launched their ecosystem token - SMORES.
• OKX marketplace made Core assets tradable with zero fees, promoting easy and cost-effective trading.
• Triton released das-grpc-ingest, an alternative ingest engine for the Metaplex DAS API. Now dApp teams can run DAS using familiar technologies (Redis and Postgres) without the hefty cost of running a validator while also reducing the save of the index.
• Access Protocol introduced on-chain transferrable subscriptions, powered by Metaplex’s Bubblegum program. 
• CryptoSlam! announced support for Core. The NFT data hub offering NFT rankings, real-time analytics, and market trends across 22+ blockchains will now show data for all Core assets.
• Coinbase Wallet broadened support for Solana ecosystem tokens through its new Solana DEX integration, expanding access for users.
• Filecoin is now archiving the entire Solana transaction history, securing the entire NFT trading history of the chain.‍
• Solflare added new security features, enhancing user protection and transaction clarity.

Creator Ecosystem 

Solana creators are discovering new ways to build-on chain communities and attract audiences through NFTs. Here are some notable highlights:

• StepN x Adidas partnership was announced, launching 1,000 Genesis Sneaker NFTs to promote active lifestyles.
• Todd McFarlane the legendary comic artist announced he was bringing SPAWN to DRiP with a unique 1/1 digital scan of the original cover ink.
• Artrade launched as the first marketplace for art-based RWAs on Solana, turning fine art pieces into on-chain assets.
• The Solana Games Ambassador Program was introduced along with six creators, showcasing top games in Web3.
• Star Atlas launched Surge, a new faction vs. faction game mode with rewards.
• Valannia Origin Heroes, the game, announced the minting process and gameplay for their Origin Heroes.
• The largest sales of Solana NFTs in April were BOOGLEs #039 and #069, which were acquired collectively for 2,625 SOL (~$347K), and also the sale of BOOGLE #037 for 1,704 SOL (~$297K).

For ongoing community updates, follow @metaplex on X. You can also subscribe to receive these monthly updates directly to your email here. Developers should follow and turn on notifications for @metaplexstatus for the latest updates. To contribute to the Metaplex protocol, engage with us on GitHub or submit a Metaplex Improvement Proposal (MIP) at mip.metaplex.com.

Lastly, a thank you to TopLedger for their data support on this month’s round-up and providing real-time monitoring on Metaplex activity and usage to the ecosystem. For additional Metaplex on-chain metrics, please refer to the following link.