Tensor, the Solana-based NFT marketplace, has revealed more details about its latest venture: Vector.fun, a new platform that will combine social engagement with token trading in a mobile-first app across multiple blockchain networks.
The company’s founders shared details about the trading platform on social media on Tuesday, highlighting that its development was driven by NFT fatigue and the market’s attention becoming “tokenized memetic.”
“We saw an explosive new market emerge out of nowhere and we realized this was going to be the horse of this cycle. We knew we had to go in and win,” Tensor co-founder Ilja Moisejevs said on Twitter (aka X). “Like the early NFTs, there was no shortage of trading products… and like the early NFTs, they were all worthless. We thought we could do better. So we imagined a 10x experience,” he posted.
WTF IS VECTOR?
FOLLOW + SUBSCRIBE 🔔 pic.twitter.com/0EWY1TnjSV
— VECTOR (@VECTORDOTFUN) November 12, 2024
The platform, which has been in private beta for the past few months, aims to redefine trading by combining it with social interaction in a SocialFi experience. In other words, Tensor wants to put the meme coins, bending, and community building all in one place.
“Trading crypto with your internet friends and bonding over the latest meme is SocialFi. Building a great social trading experience is SocialFi. Vector is SocialFi,” said co-founder Richard Wu.
Early this week, an early access waitlist was open for a brief period, but intense demand forced the team to halt signups. It is expected that parties on the waiting list will have the opportunity to use Vector.fun in the coming weeks, as the team gradually rolls out access. Holders of the company’s NFT collection, Tensorians, can skip the waitlist by confirming ownership via Discord.
Tensor rose to prominence in the late stages of 2023, stealing trading volume from Magic Eden’s Solana NFT and gaining a market share as high as 85.2% by January 2024, according to data from Andrew Hong’s Solana NFT marketplace Dune dashboard.
At launch, Tensor’s Vector.fun will enter a highly competitive space, competing directly with notable meme coin trading terminals such as Photon, BullX and Jupiter’s ApePro, which have gained fame for their trading speed and meme coin discoverability.
The meme coin trade, especially on Solana, is on fire this year. That was led in large part by the Solana meme coin factory Pump.fun, which made it cheap and easy for just about anyone to launch a new token.
Since the beginning of the year, users on Pump.fun have created more than 3 million new meme coins, according to data on Dune. A few of these tokens – such as Peanut the Squirrel (PNUT) and Goatseus Maximum (GOAT) – have grown to significant market caps and delivered significant profits to early entrants.
However, trading meme coins comes with major risks as most new tokens die a quick death. The biggest winners of the meme coin craze may be the trading platforms that host them. For example, Pump.fun has earned over $180 million in revenue to date from creating and flipping tokens.
Will Tensor be able to take on the incumbent and get a piece of the pie? It’s done it before.
Edited by Guillermo Jimenez and Andrew Hayward