Of course, Ethereum is still the NFT market share leader, but there are discussions of ‘multi-chain future’ among the NFT space. NFT market leader OpenSea has shown an open hand to this concept, adding support to chains like Polygon and Avalanche.
It doesn’t just stop and start with OpenSea, either: the dedicated NFT market Solana Magic Eden has branched out, including support for NFT Polygon. While not cross-chain (at least, not yet), Ethereum-dedicated free-of-charge platform Blur has opened it’s own Ethereum-based token platform, causing quite a stir this week.
And now Rarible, the long-running NFT marketplace, has announced a new support tool new to Tezos and Polygon NFT this week.
Runnin’ With Rarible
Rarible first announced its desire to integrate multi-chain NFTs on Solana, Tezos and Flow about a year ago. The marketplace is largely building on that vision, and now the platform supports collections printed on Ethereum, Solana, Tezos, Polygon, and Immutable X.
So what is the announcement of the week from Rarible really all? This is a new aggregation tool on the Rarible marketplace that allows users to buy Tezos-based NFTs from specialized marketplaces like Ojbkt and fxhash. Tezos has been a unique NFT player with a huge focus on building an artist-centric environment.
Polygon has taken the opposite approach, securing major brand partners like Starbucks and Reddit which are a long list of ‘institutional’ class partners. So, the Rarible aggregation tool will also support NFT Polygon on OpenSea.
This maneuver follows the launch of aggregator tool Rarible in October, which looks to use other markets to increase accessibility and visibility in collections.
Tezos (XTZ) has been working to find it's niche in crypto, with strong traction in building a grassroots network of talent NFT creatives. | Source: XTZ-USD on TradingView.com
Multi-Chain Madness: What and Why
Many ‘altcoin’ maxis even believe in a multi-chain future, mostly because of the different use cases offered by the chain. Some may be better for privacy, others for cost efficiency, etc. – and most of these various use cases can all find a home for projects that have a core need. In short, the crypto landscape has evolved beyond Bitcoin’s ‘store of value’ use case and Ethereum’s ‘smart contact’ offering. More nuances, more investment, more projects, and thus – more utility for a given chain.
This, of course, does not mean that every chain will survive long distances. However, this move from Rarible bodes well for established chains like Polygon and Tezos – which have clearly carved their respective paths in the NFT space.