Chris Curl,
Editor
Aug. 11, 2022
I wrote a few weeks back about Solana launching a Web3 enabled smartphone called the Solana Saga.
And now, in a further nod to Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), it has been announced that they will be opening physical stores called “Solana Spaces.”
In fact, one is already up and running in the Hudson Yards shopping center in NYC.
Even though Solana doesn’t have much merchandise to sell currently, the storefront serves as an important retail-as-a-service tutorial hub to introduce the public to crypto and DeFi.
As Solana grows and releases more products like the Solana Saga, these stores will become more and more important.
Solana Spaces CEO Bibhu Nordy is extremely excited about the project, stating:
“I don’t think people realize this but we’re going to bring 50-100,000 people into Solana every month through these stores – and that’s just this year.”
Many more stores are scheduled to open around the US. This has the potential to onboard countless people to Solana, which is already home to over a thousand decentralized applications (dApps) as well as being a popular platform for NFTs.
The project is being funded by The Solana Foundation, a non-profit headquartered in Switzerland dedicated to the growth and security of the Solana network.
Solana is picking up steam as an alternative layer-1 blockchain and becoming an increasingly serious competitor to Ethereum.
Solana currently has 37 million “daily active wallets” – these are unique blockchain users who connect their wallets to the network every day. This marks a 58% increase since the beginning of the year.
At Solana Spaces, customers are greeted with a full wall screen that represents current transactions occurring on Solana – including NFT mints. Across the room is a smaller screen displaying an introductory video that educates crypto novices on all things blockchain.
There’s also a booth where customers can set up their own Phantom wallet (the most popular Solana wallet). After doing so, they are rewarded with their first Solana NFT.
There are many other stations featuring Solana partners such as Orca, STEPN, Solana Pay, and Magic Eden. They include digital tutorials that, when completed, reward you with NFTs or tokens.
If you complete a certain number of them, you will even be gifted Solana USDC – which is Solana’s U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin.
And if you set up Solana Pay – their peer-to-peer payment system – in store, you get 50% off merchandise purchased with it.
Lastly, Solana Spaces includes an NFT art gallery with various NFT sets displayed in frames like you would see in a museum. Customers are able to display their own NFTs on the wall, which is a fun way to add interactivity to the space.
Solana Spaces creator, Bibhu Nordy, is also excited about the potential that crypto has to become an “anti-spam engine,” saying:
“Personally, I’m very unsatisfied with the product that I get from the internet today — it’s full of ads, it’s full of spam, a lot of things have become very unusable for me. What crypto really is, and what Solana really is, is a kind of anti-spam engine. That’s how I conceive of it.”
I think Solana Spaces is a great step forward for the Solana blockchain and will onboard many new users that are curious about crypto and Web3.
If you find yourself in NYC, I’d highly recommend checking it out.
I’d also recommend checking out my Crypto Cycle newsletter, where I educate readers about the emerging digital currency landscape and how to navigate it. I also manage a $50,000 real money portfolio with full transparency, showing you what cryptos I’m buying and selling.
You can check it out here.
Chris Curl
Editor, Daily Profit Cycle