What Changed Since November 2021? In terms of pricing, rules, and general development, the cryptocurrency industry has been a veritable rollercoaster.
Exchanges failed, ecosystems worth billions of dollars fell apart, authorities are intervening more than before, banks are closing, and so on. And it almost feels like time is passing quickly. At the 2021 Solana Breakpoint in Lisbon, CryptoPotato had the opportunity to speak with Brandon Millman, the CEO of Phantom, the largest self-custody wallet on Solana. 15 months later, during ETH Denver in 2023, we had another conversation with him.
Why is a wallet from Solana at ETH Denver? Phantom is currently testing its multichain functionality, integrating the Polygon and Ethereum chains into its wallet interface. Former 0x programmers Brandon and his group are back in the Ethereum community to introduce the Phantoms wallet.
Let’s start now.
Ups and Downs in a Vortex: 2021 to 2023
Q: Thus, our last conversation took place at Breakpoint in Lisbon in 2021. It’s safe to say that the industry has changed significantly since then. Let’s get right to it: What has changed since then for you guys?
A: The cryptocurrency market cap reached a record high in November 2021. For all of cryptocurrency, 2018 was incredible. A very intriguing development was the Solana NFT market’s fast growth in 2022. I believe it got moving in August 2021 and went into high gear in 2022.
There was a tonne of NFT activity on Solana (before to the FTX controversy) up until August or September 2022, much of it by Magic Eden. This provided an unmatched NFT experience when combined with Phantom and contributed significantly to growth.
What we saw was that Solana attracted a totally different population than Ethereum. There was little overlap because Solana had a younger audience, which was ideal for new NFT projects because they were more accessible and affordable. Not to mention that the majority of these collectors were from the US.
Of course, the FTX fiasco occurred toward the end of the year. Certain projects were impacted by the blast because of FTX’s proximity to the Solana ecosystem. At the same time, FTX led to a significant exodus of traders to non-custodial goods from centralized exchanges. It was a strange contrast where on one side, Solana wasn’t performing so great, but we were having a massive influx of individuals fleeing from not only FTX but also other centralized exchanges — everyone was afraid.
Brandon Millman’s phantom cover
Where did you get caught up in the FTX collapse?
The Breakpoint 2022 conference was in Lisbon. There was a tonne of developers and builders at the conference, and it was jam-packed with fantastic content. As I was flying home, the news started to spread.
I initially didn’t grasp it because I couldn’t make sense of a tweet from SBF about Binance’s strategic takeover of FTX. I thought, “Well, that’s ridiculous, Binance is buying FTX?” But as additional information emerged, I began to worry about the entire sector. FTX was such a well-known name in the mainstream cryptocurrency community.
I was generally happy that the US didn’t react to regulation in a purely knee-jerk manner. I had anticipated that the government would want to instantly shut down all of our industry.
The Fall of Solana and its Surprising Consequences
Q: Following the FTX incident, Solana crashed and burned in 2022, losing its reputation as one of the fastest-growing ecosystems. How has the neighborhood evolved since then? What has changed the most, in your opinion?
A very robust community can be found in Solana. There is a very solid, sincere core that has remained and is quite devoted. The number of developers increased with time.
But in general, people stay loyal to Solana. Many competing layer-ones came out, and while some people departed, the vast majority stayed.
Going to Ethereum and Polygon: New Avenues for Phantom Wallet
In the wake of the weak market, have you considered expanding support for other networks?
A: Phantom presently has a multi-chain wallet extension and mobile app in beta with support for Solana, Ethereum, and Polygon — all under one app. It’s being utilized by 70K beta testers at the present, and we are advancing toward the aim of launching it publicly within the next month.
Phantom will then take the place of MetaMask for Ethereum and Polygon once that is released. What Changed Since November 2021 We will have that set up when we debut, and we constantly assess the various chains and ecosystems.
What competitive edge do you have over MetaMask?
A: I’d say there are three main advantages we have.
Because it is a multichain-first wallet, users won’t have to switch networks in order to use Solana, Ethereum, and Polygon simultaneously. What Changed Since November 2021 They can view an aggregated view of all assets because they are simultaneously connected to all of them.
Phantom also excels in providing security measures. What Changed Since November 2021 We put a lot of effort into developing features like transaction simulation prior to signing documents, automatic NFT spam filtering that functions similarly to email spam filters, and many others.
Last but not least, we make sure that our wallet includes the best NFT features imaginable, including the aforementioned security protections as well as the ability to sell NFTs straight from the app, and extensive metadata about the floor price, purchase price, and other factors.
What Is the Next Major Trend and When Phantom Wallet Token?
How has the overall market downturn affected registrations?
A lot of the same people from other ecosystems make up the user base during these more bear market situations; there aren’t many new users. Our main attention will be on providing for current users.
When Phantom token? I know we asked you this in Lisbon, but I can’t help but ask it again.
A: It’s unclear how a token fits with our goal of fostering lifespan.
The token is currently not on our roadmap since I believe there is more risk involved than there is a potential benefit.
Where will the next big fashion trend emerge from?
A: It’s been intriguing to see how many trends seem to appear out of nowhere. There are some really crypto-native concepts that gain a lot of traction. Web3 gaming has generated a lot of interest. I’m still holding out to see what transpires there.
I could envision more specialized cryptocurrency games, perhaps something with a token that gains huge popularity, something more avant-garde. That is what I would assume.
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