Solana is suffering once again. If I were Solana, I would’ve had countless mental breakdowns. Funny enough, I’m having those mental meltdowns without being a blockchain. Anyway, back to Solana. Its art marketplace, Formfunction, announced it is shutting down after raising 5 million USD in sales in a year. Why is the formfunction marketplace closing?
What Is Formfunction Marketplace?
Formfunction is a Solana-based marketplace dedicated to independent creators. The marketplace’s founders, @pencilflip and @petrichorate, wanted to bring as much recognition to small projects as huge projects receive.
The marketplace has always noted that it wants to allow creators to “create and collect amazing digital art, without the negative environmental impact.” They chose Solana because it’s cheaper and more environmentally friendly than other blockchains.
Was It Ever Good?
So, formfunction marketplace wanted to create a platform to support independent creators. Now, it’s shutting down. But, did it ever perform well? Yes, it did. Matter of fact it scored significant numbers since its launch.
- Launched February 3rd, 2022 with 24 genesis artists
- Reached milestone of paying $1M to their artists
- Made $5M in sales in one year
- Out of 4000+ creators, over 60% have made at least one sale
- Helped over 600 creators make at least $1,000
- And, helped over 70 creators make at least $10,000
Moreover, in March 2022, the platform raised $4.7 million in a seed round to support multiple projects. Its overall performance was good.
So, What Happened to the Formfunction Marketplace?
The formfunction marketplace announced on Twitter, and in a blog post, that they’re closing as of March 29th. They didn’t specify a reason why. The team said:
“This was an extremely difficult decision; however, after much discussion and careful consideration, we’ve come to the conclusion that we cannot continue to operate Formfunction.”
We have some sad news to share today—Formfunction is shutting down on Wednesday, March 29th.
This was an extremely difficult decision; however, after much discussion and careful consideration, we’ve come to the conclusion that we cannot continue to operate Formfunction.
— Formfunction (@formfunction) March 15, 2023
Wait, What About My NFTs on Formfunction?
Rest assured that you’ve still got your NFTs. Even though the formfunction marketplace is closing, you still have complete ownership of your NFTs. You can export a hashlist of all NFTs you’ve created.
This way you can display and sell them on any other marketplace of your choice. Also, before the website shuts down on March 29th, make sure you delist all your NFTs in order to be able to list them elsewhere.
But, Why Is Formfunction Marketplace Shutting Down?
You’re like okay I understand the success and the announcement. But, I’m failing to see why. Again, the team didn’t specify the reason behind their closure. However, it seems to be tied to Solana’s slump lately.
After all, Formfunction is a Solana-based marketplace. If Solana isn’t performing well, the platform will follow along.
Solana’s Performance Significantly Decreased
Is Solana that much in trouble? The short answer is yes. The long answer is, let’s check the numbers. The Solana floor blue-chip index (purple) dropped from 12.4K to 2.07K USD. This is an 83.27% decrease!
If you’re thinking about the green chart going up, it’s the BC index in SOL. Despite it increasing, the value of Solana has drastically dropped.
In April 2022, SOL was worth around $125. Now, it dipped below $25 per the data by coingecko. So, Solana has lost 80% of its value.
Moreover, some of its giant native projects, Y00ts and DeGods, moved to other blockchains. In short, Solana has been struggling to stay afloat so it’s not that surprising that the Formfunction marketplace is closing down. It is hard to sustain the platform in such circumstances.
Community Saddened Over Formfunction Marketplace Closure
After the announcement of the formfunction marketplace shutting down, the community was pretty bummed out. It prevented a lot of value and support to the space. And, it is indeed sad to see such talent and support leaving the space.
And, creators started moving to other platforms like the exchange platform.
What’s Next?
So, the formfunction marketplace is shutting down and it’s most likely because of Solana’s decline. The decline is as clear as the sun. Furthermore, recently the Silicon Valley bank drama caused two crypto-friendly banks to close. This also impacted Solana alongside other cryptocurrencies and NFT collections. You can read about it here. But, what do you think will happen to Solana now? Are we witnessing its final breaths?