Get Hyper(space)!
This article explores the world of NFTs and the role of Hyperspace in supporting the Solana NFT ecosystem.
Introduction
The proliferation of cryptocurrency has spurred innovations in various industries, including digital art. NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, have gained considerable attention in the past few years. Cryptopunks, BAYCs, and even Beeple’s famous Everyday- First 5000 days NFT sold for $69 million. While crypto took a dive in prices this year, we are seeing more people than ever join the NFT space across multiple chains, and the sentiment is still bullish regarding NFTs.
One such chain is Solana which offers low transaction fees and a high transaction speed compared to ETH. It has grown exponentially in terms of sales and the number of users, with projects like SolanaMBS, DeGods, OkayBears, etc., hitting higher volume and prices than many ETH-based NFT projects.
This craze brought new marketplaces and aggregators into the Solana ecosystem, with MagicEden at the top of this list and closely followed by Hyperspace and Hadeswap.
Before we dive into Hyperspace, let’s understand the use of NFT aggregators.
NFT Aggregators enable users to find and explore NFTs from various marketplaces and protocols in a single location. These platforms often offer tools to compare NFTs from different sources so that the user gets the best rates, whether he is buying or selling.
Some of the general benefits of using NFT aggregators over traditional marketplaces include the following:
NFT aggregators allow users to access a broader range of NFTs from different sources, giving them more options
NFT aggregators often provide more information about the NFTs and the projects they represent, helping users make more informed decisions
NFT aggregators often have more user-friendly interfaces and features than traditional marketplaces, making it easier for users to discover and compare NFTs.
NFT aggregators may have lower or no fees for using their services compared to traditional marketplaces, which often charge fees for listing and selling NFTs.
One such NFT Aggregator that is taking Solana by storm is Hyperspace. Hyperspace is a comprehensive NFT platform built on the Solana blockchain. Developed by the Solanalysis team, their goal is to provide the best possible NFT trading and commerce experience for all users while preserving the openness and compatibility of web3.
Without further ado, let's dive into each of their core products and see what makes Hyperspace, well, hyper (pun intended)!
Marketplace
Hyperspace has developed the most robust NFT trading platform on Solana. In addition to offering low-fee trading on their marketplace contract, users can also trade on all other Solana marketplaces from a single user interface. There is a 0% listing fee with 0% buyer fees and only 1% seller fees, implying that you only need to pay a tiny amount when selling your NFT via Hyperspace.
Apart from low fees, Hyperspace also shows you the rarity of your NFTs so that you know what you're trading. Another advantage that Hyperspace has over other marketplaces is allowing you to have custody of your NFT until it's sold.
The rarity is determined similarly to other tools like rarity.tools with the addition of a few more data points to ensure accuracy. They figure out the entire demographics of traits for a collection and use trait popularity and trait rarity score to give each trait a score.
These scores are added for each trait an NFT has; depending on the score, its rarity is assigned. Of Course, it has nuances, such as the exclusion of numerical ranges attributes in which all possible values are numerical. These types of attributes are often found in algorithmically generated art collections. Hyperspace also does not change the rarity of NFTs when they are burned or added to a collection, even if the collection adds or burns NFTs over time.
Hyperspace has over 17 marketplaces integrated into their platform, ranging from Magic Eden and Opensea to Rarible, Coralcube, etc.
Before we move to Hyperspace’s other unique offerings, let's talk about Hyperspace's modified smart contracts that allow contract-level composability and strengthen users.
Modified House Auction Contract
To establish an open web ecosystem, Hyperspace modified and adapted the Auction House contract developed by Metaplex to serve as their underlying marketplace contract for listing NFTs, bidding on unlisted items, open listings, and enabling users to directly list NFTs. It allows for stateless escrow, which, as mentioned above, lets the user keep custody of their NFT during the listing phase until it's sold. It also allows for more capital-efficient bidding, and any user can make infinite bids until their escrow amount is equal to the maximum bid they've placed.
Contract-level composability
Hyperspace believes in composability and thinks it helps in advancing further by taking building blocks from several protocols and stacking them to make a more complex application which is the beauty of decentralization, according to them. With this comes the composable frontend, which they are currently building.
Decentralized frontends are user interfaces or applications that enable decentralized access and use of decentralized protocols or platforms. They are maintained and operated by a decentralized network of users, giving users greater control and autonomy over their interactions with decentralized systems. Decentralized frontends can promote decentralization and openness in the ecosystem. Decentralized frontends can be used by NFT creators, curators, and brands to customize and monetize their interactions with decentralized systems and platforms. They provide a range of benefits, including the ability to capture economics, curate and manage NFT collections, and offer NFT commerce experiences to users.
You can read all about it here.
For composability, Hyperspace has embedded a fee structure into their smart contract: the seller referral fee is a configurable fee that is rewarded to the agent who drives users to list NFTs on the underlying marketplace contract. The buyer referral fee is a configurable fee that is rewarded to the demand agent who drives users to buy NFTs from the underlying marketplace contract. There is also a platform fee of 0.50% paid to the platform for facilitating and maintaining the underlying marketplace contract.
These fees incentivize and reward contributors to the marketplace. Apart from this, they also have plans to allow other sites/apps to display the NFTs listed on Hyperspace for sale, with referral fees as an incentive.
Launchpad
Like many other marketplaces, Hyperspace also has its Launchpad that offers projects a variety of services to support NFT projects in their early stages, such as marketing and community-building support, technical assistance, and much more! It helps any early NFT project raise funds and make them visible to Hyperspace’s community.
To apply for Hyperspace Launchpad, you can visit their website and click on Apply for Launchpad, which will be available in Create’s dropdown.
You can also apply for Upcoming projects, which any user can see in the Upcoming section of the website.
Upon clicking either link, you’ll be greeted with a form asking you the details about your NFT project, and Users can fill it in under 10 minutes.
However, the difference between the Launchpad application and the Upcoming application is that in the latter, Hyperspace asks you to provide a link to the site where your NFT would be minted and details regarding its launch.
Analytics
Hyperspace has a section where you can filter or sort projects out based on various metrics such as Floor price, 24H volume or PFP-based, Utility-based, Gaming based, etc.
These analytics help users understand the performance and trends of a particular NFT project, which helps evaluate whether the project is likely to be successful based on various metrics provided. It can also help segregate projects based on their sector, understand what NFTs in the Gaming sector is doing well, and help you become aware of those projects.
It's essential to remember that while NFT analytics can provide valuable insights into the performance and trends of an NFT project, it is just one factor to consider when evaluating the project. Other factors to consider are:
The team behind the project.
The project's business model.
The potential risks and uncertainties associated with the project.
Upcoming Drops
Finally, Hyperspace allows its users to monitor the upcoming NFT projects on Solana. This section can be necessary for a user for various reasons:
It helps users stay informed about new NFT projects and releases.
It can help users plan their purchases.
And finally, It can provide valuable insights for market analysis. By tracking the performance and trends of upcoming NFT drops, users can gain valuable insights into the market and the potential success or failure of different NFT projects.
Upcoming Drops as of 6th Jan 2022. Source: Hyperspace
Conclusion
The world of NFTs rapidly evolves and presents exciting opportunities for artists, collectors, and investors. NFT Aggregators like Hyperspace offer a range of tools and features to support the ecosystem, including a robust marketplace, launchpad services for new NFT projects, and analytics tools to track and analyze trends across different NFT projects.
One of the critical advantages of platforms like Hyperspace is their focus on composability and openness, allowing users to trade NFTs across different marketplaces and protocols from a single user interface. It helps to protect the openness and accessibility of the web3 ecosystem and allows for more significant innovation and creativity.
In addition to its core products, Hyperspace is also developing decentralized frontends, allowing other sites and apps to surface liquidity for NFTs listed on the platform and participate in referral fees. It would create a more open and decentralized NFT ecosystem, enabling a more comprehensive range of users to access and trade NFTs.
Overall, Hyperspace is a powerful and innovative platform that is helping to shape the future of the NFT market and drive the growth and development of the web3 ecosystem.
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Disclaimer: The statements and details above are informational only, and subject to change. Nothing above should be construed as financial, legal, or investment advice.