Digital artist Grant Yun debuted his non-fungible token (NFT) collection “Life in Japan” on Solana’s Exchange Art marketplace on April 18, via the drop “A Bright Spring Day.” The NFTs sold out within nine minutes of the coin going public. The collection delves deep into memories of his time in Korea and frequent visits to Japan.
…and they’re all sold! 9 minutes from open!! I’m excited to join a new community!! ♥️ Really appreciate everyone’s patience during this turbulent process! Back to work with more art!! pic.twitter.com/Fto8ghoTTl
— Grant Riven Yun (@GrantYun2) April 19, 2024
Despite having previously published digital artwork from his Life in Japan collection on Ethereum to date, Yun shared with Crypto Briefing that he has been watching Solana and Exchange Art from the sidelines for quite some time.
“From everything that has happened in recent years, it is clear to me that Exchange Art is one of the leading platforms for SOL-based NFTs that is not only forward-looking but also artist-centric. In addition to what platforms can do for artists today or what they have done for artists in the past, it is important to see what platforms will do for artists in the future,” he adds.
However, Solana is a competitive environment when it comes to token sniping. Users rely on bots to streamline the processes of purchasing and minting tokens. According to a Dune Analytics dashboard created by user maditim, bot users are the most profitable wallets for trading meme coins on Solana.
Yun became aware of this after the launch of his collection on Exchange Art was announced, and reserved mint spots for holders of his earlier works. This strategy guaranteed fair participation for users, he said.
“Luckily I had some great teams I worked with who helped me find an alternative solution to get my work into the hands of REAL people. The method required some extra steps for collectors and a lot more work on my part, but in the end it was worth it.”
Holders of “A Bright Spring Day” may want to hold on to their NFTs, as Yun said he is unsure if another Life In Japan series release will launch on Solana. Nevertheless, the digital artist said that this is not his last work launched on this network.
“It took me a while to get to SOL, but that was because I wanted to make sure that there was a robust art culture in this chain, which I am now 100% convinced exists. I’m sure many people are aware that over the years I have tended to take my time and tell my stories through multiple works of art. When will my next SOL drop be? Even I don’t know the answer to this question, but I hope to come back as soon as possible!”