NFT Marketplace Magic Eden Integrates with Polygon to Expand Blockchain Gaming • TechCrunch

NFT marketplace Magic Eden is integrating with Ethereum scaling layer-2 blockchain Polygon to dive deeper into the blockchain gaming and NFT ecosystems, the companies announced on Tuesday.

“We are excited to integrate with Polygon and continue the pursuit of a multi-chain future for Magic Eden,” Zhuoxun Yin, co-founder and COO of Magic Eden, told TechCrunch. “By offering this integration, we continue to remove all chain-specific barriers and open NFTs to the masses.”

The expansion aims to give Magic Eden the ability to support Polygon’s ecosystem of game developers and creators. The Polygon network hosts some of the biggest web3 game projects and publishers such as Ubisoft, Atari, Animoca Brands, Decentraland, Sandbox, among others.

Ethereum-focused Polygon has also made headlines recently for partnering with non-crypto-native companies like Instagram, Stripe, Disney, Starbucks, and Robinhood to integrate web3 technology into businesses.

“The integration will allow us to integrate more global brands and new users into the NFT market, while continuing to bring web3 gaming to the masses,” said Yin. “Polygon has already brought many recognized brands into web3, opening the gate for new users to discover the many tools of NFTs.”

The Polygon network supports over 37,000 decentralized applications (dApps) and has had around 1.8 billion total transactions processed, according to its website. The expansion with Polygon could give Magic Eden the ability to leverage its ecosystem and vice versa.

After its launch in September 2021, Magic Eden grew in popularity quite quickly. On average, it has approximately 10 million unique user sessions per month and sees over 20,000 NFTs traded daily – even in the midst of a market downturn, the company stated. In June, Magic Eden raised $130 million, bringing its value to $1.6 billion.

To date, Magic Eden’s platform has over $2.5 billion in total NFT trading volume.

In general, the NFT market has not been growing recently, as total NFT sales have declined every month in a row since April, according to CryptoSlam data. Over the past 30 days, Ethereum NFT sales volume has increased by approximately 26%, while Solana NFT sales volume has fallen almost 20%, data knew. During that time period, Polygon surpassed both Ethereum and Solana blockchains with a 71% increase in NFT sales volume.

“Our entry into Polygon will include a launch pad and marketplace, both of which will go live next month and simplify the process for NFT creators and collectors,” Yin said.

Also known as crypto incubators, crypto launchpads are platforms that allow web3-focused projects to be built within a designated blockchain network. In Magic Eden’s case, the launch of the NFT marketplace is a cross-chain on Solana, Ethereum or both and is responsible for 90% of all Solana-based NFT volume, according to the website.

The integration will focus on providing tools to creators, including a launch pad and marketplace tied to Polygon’s native token, MATIC, according to a statement. Game developers such as BORA backed by Kakao Games, IntellaX, nWay, Block Games, Boomland, Planet Mojo and Taunt Battleworld have already committed to Magic Eden’s Launchpad with Polygon.

In the long term, the partnership between Magic Eden and Polygon aims to bring more game developers and NFT games to the market, Yin said.

So far, Magic Eden has brought over 100 games to market across the Solana and Ethereum layer-1 blockchains, he added. “Although we are still in the early stages of mass adoption for blockchain games, we believe that Magic Eden can add value here.”