Solana Crypto Phone Sees $70M in Pre-Orders
Solana Crypto Phone Sees $70M in Pre-Orders
Plus crypto is pumping hard after the Fed's rate cut decision yesterday. Find out who the biggest winners were.
TylerD's Market Summary
GM!
Today's top news:
Crypto majors pup 4-7% following the Fed's 50 bps rate cut, SOL leads at $139
POPCAT soars 35% to $900M, leads very green day for memes
SEC hammered at Congressional hearing over lack of regulatory clarity
Trump pays with Bitcoin at NYC bar, leans more into crypto
Solana Mobile debuts Solana Seeker phone and $70M in pre-orders
💸 The Solana Seeker Sees $70M in Pre-Orders
The Solana Saga phone took the crypto world by storm in Q1 of 2024.
The phone was selling for over $3,000 on the secondary markets as users paid up for the phone as a collector's item (and airdrop catcher).
Now Solana Mobile is back with a 2nd phone and seeing even more success - without the airdrops.
What Happened?
The Solana Mobile team revealed the first look at the Solana Seeker phone and its branding at an event in Singapore yesterday.
Set to launch in mid-2025, the Seeker phone has already received 140,000 pre-orders for the $450 phone ($70M).
Compared to the Saga, the Seeker has:
a brighter flagship display
enhanced battery life and performance
improved cameras
Additionally, it is lighter and smaller, responding to feedback that users prefer it as a secondary device for crypto-related activities like running nodes or mining decentralized physical infrastructure tokens (DePINs).
Regarding it's reduced price tag of just $450, Solana Mobile GM Emmett Hollyer said:
"We've priced it very aggressively because we want it to be accessible for growth, not necessarily because we see this in any way of a step down."
While the Saga targeted crypto newcomers, the Seeker hones in on dedicated Web3 users, maintaining its focus on crypto integration through Solana’s Seed Vault, a secure wallet embedded in the phone.
Hollyer commented on going after crypto power users:
“I don't expect this to be a device that we're just pitching to the masses, like, ‘Hey, use an Android phone and maybe try some of the crypto features. I'd love to be there, but I think we need to really, really get this right, and really learn from our users before we can start to pull in the masses.”
Why It Matters
The success of this phone is certainly tied to the success of the airdrops for the Solana Saga phone.
Back in Q1, many protocols and memecoins gifted token allotments to Saga phone holders, making the phone very valuable (likely more than $3,000 in rewards received for the $1,000 phone).
Many are expecting that to happen again with the Seeker, with Hollyer even commenting on that:
"Of course, it will be a rewards magnet..."
Beyond that, an important metric that jumped out to me - over half of the sales came from new markets, Asia-Pacific specifically.
This represents a growing trend for the crytpo industry as global adoption soars.
It's more important than ever for hungry new teams to find where the users are, and those who are ready to spend on crypto apps and products.
And it seems those users may be in Asia Pacific, now more than ever.
🚚 What else is happening in NFTs?
Here is the list of other notable headlines from the day in NFTs:
Ethereum led NFT trading volume with $2.6M on the day; Solana was next with $1.9M, and then Bitcoin with $1.6M
ETH NFT leaders were slightly red down 1-2%; Punks -2% at 28.85 ETH, Pudgy -2% at 10.6, BAYC -2% at 11.6 ETH, Azuki -2% at 5.65
Flyfish Club (+26%) and Plooshies (+24%) were notable top movers
BTC NFT leaders were mixed; NodeMonkes even at 0.139 BTC, Puppets +5% at 0.086 BTC, Quantum Cats -2% at 0.238
The Runes leaders were very green with DOG +10% at $254M mc, RSIC +5% at $59M mc, PUPS +9% at $24.65M and BILLION DOLLAR CAT +70% to $14.7M
Solana NFTs were mostly green; Mad Lads +5% at 69 SOL, SMB Gen 2 +3% at 29, DeGods -12% at 24 SOL, Claynos even at 17
BAYC introduced a new trading simulation game called Top Trader for ApeChain, developed by The Workshop team and offering crypto rewards for the best high-leverage traders
The NFT-financed film Calladita hit #1 on Netflix Spain
Bored Apes were the answer to a Jeopardy! question in an episode airing on Wednesday
💰 Token, Airdrop & Protocol Tracker
Here's a rundown of major token, protocol and/or airdrop news from the day:
Parallel shared a first look at its upcoming 3rd person shooter game Tau Ceti, allowing players to use their Parallel Avatars in a 3D world
Solana Mobile has received $70M in pre-order for the 2nd Solana phone, the Solana Seeker - more than 5x the demand for the Solana Saga phone
Ethena Labs had its website temporarily shut down after a hacking event on Wednesday
🌎 Around Crypto and Web3
A few other Crypto and Web3 headlines that caught my eye:
Crypto majors are up 4-7% this morning after the Federal Reserve's decision to cut rates by 50 bps; BTC +4 at $62,500; ETH +5% at $2,430, SOL +7% at $139
Memecoin majors are even more green with DOGE +4%, PEPE +8%, WIF +13%, BONK +7%, MOG +14%; POPCAT led all notable movers up 30%
Donald Trump used Bitcoin as payment at a bar in NYC ahead of his rally yesterday evening
The SEC was hammered in a Congressional hearing on Wednesday, as former SEC commissioner and now Robinhood senior lawyer recounted their difficulties in complying with the SEC's murky regulations
Louisiana became the first state to allow crypto payments, with the first transaction a hunting license purchased in Bitcoin
Revolut shared plans to issue a stablecoin, as the London-based Fintech company looks to expand into crypto
A new ETF launched offering 2x long or short MicroStrategy stock
Borderless Capital introduced a new $100M DePIN fund
Wisdom Tree is pushing further into RWA tokenization with its new WisdomTree Connect product for businesses, offering access to tokenized funds and digital wallets
🚀 Memecoin Movers
$NEIRO (+50%, $110M market cap, ETH)
$MOODENG (+60%, $27M market cap, SOL)
$BILLY (+40%, $44M market cap, SOL)
$michi (+37%, $82M market cap, SOL)
$POPCAT (+35%, $900M market cap, SOL)
📈 NFT Floor Price Increase (ETH)
Flyfish Club (26%, 1.75 ETH Floor)
Bursted Bubbles (25%, 0.75 ETH)
Plooshies (24%, 0.26 ETH)
Treeverse (16%, 0.26 ETH)
Parallel Avatars (12%, 0.39 ETH)
🗓 Upcoming Mints and Events
Today is another slower day of mints.
The highlight is likely a game launch - Season 2 of Dookey Dash, starting today. With $1M in prizes.
See the full list and dive in for more details with Swizzy's daily mint monitor.
Kanetix - Light Waves (10:00 a.m. ET)
Shaderism - The Artist Code (11:00 a.m. ET)
BAYC - Dookey Dash Unclogged (4:00 p.m. ET)
Enjoy this write-up and/or want to sponsor the Morning Minute? Follow along with me on Twitter @tyler_did_it or reach out via email to tyler.d.warner@gmail.com.