According to Cointelegraph, the Magic Eden (ME) Foundation has announced the upcoming launch of the ME token, a new digital asset aimed at supporting Web3 consumer decentralized applications (DApps) through cross-chain trading. The ME Foundation’s mission is to develop decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) protocols with community-led governance.
The ME token is set to become central to Magic Eden, a global non-fungible token (NFT) and Runes platform, which will be the first to officially adopt ME as its ecosystem token. Initially a Solana (SOL)-based NFT platform, Magic Eden now spans multiple blockchain platforms and plans to integrate the ME token to drive ecosystem growth. The token is designed to enhance DApps by facilitating cross-chain trading of digital assets. With Magic Eden’s mobile expansion and the inclusion of the ME token, users will be incentivized to trade any asset on the biggest chains at any time.
The press release highlights Magic Eden’s significant growth, noting that the platform has surpassed $6 billion in total trading volume and represents over 60% of all NFT revenue. This growth is evidenced by the platform overtaking competitors Blur and Yuga Labs by April earlier this year, after recording $756.5 million in NFT trading volume in March. Magic Eden’s surge in NFT trading volume in March resulted in a 194.4% increase in monthly trading volume, outperforming Blur’s $530.4 million total trading volume.
Looking back at the peak of the NFT hype cycle, top-performing collections such as CryptoPunks and Bored Apes gained rapid traction from 2021 to 2022. As of May 2022, the NFT market reached a market capitalization of $526 billion, only to drop to a market cap closer to $18 billion as of Aug. 21 — a 97% decrease in value. This value loss for investors was further evidenced by a dappGambl report in September 2023, which revealed that out of 73,257 NFT collections, 95% had market caps of 0 Ether (ETH).