Helius Labs CEO Criticizes NFT Layer Metaplex for Not Making Money Despite Raising $46M

Mert Mumtaz, co-founder and CEO of Helius Labs, has criticized Metaplex for not generating profits despite raising more than $46 million in a funding initiative last year. He said Solana would be better than it is now.

Mumtaz hits Metaplex to take the loss

In a May 23 blog post, the CEO of Helius Labs slammed Metaplex, a company that allows users to build their own Solana-based marketplaces for non-fungible tokens (NFTs), for failing to raise revenue despite raising more than $46 million in funding last year.

BREAKING: @0xMert_ CLAIMS THAT IF @heliuslabs, @xNFT_BackpackOR @tensor_hq HAD @metaplexFINANCING IT @solana WOULD NOW BE A “TYPE 3 CIVILIZATION ON THE KARDASHEV SCALE, USING THE POWER OF DYSON BALLS FOR INTERGALACTIC BLOCK DOMINATION AGAINST THE DARK RIVERS” pic.twitter.com/bMziRCkD6N

— DEGEN NEWS 🗞️ (@DegenerateNews) 23 May 2023

Metaplex raised $46 million in January in a funding round led by Multicoin Capital and Jump Crypto. The discovery initiative also saw the participation of other notable investors, including Alameda Research Ventures, Allen Iverson, Animoca Brands, Michael Jordan and Solana Ventures.

In a press release, Metaplex said at the time that it would use the secured funds to scale operations and provide grants to support creators from underrepresented crypto communities. Metaplex had launched more than 85,000 projects by January 2022.

Despite receiving huge amounts of funding, Metaplex has not been able to leverage Solana to make money in recent months. While condemning Metaplex for lack of revenue, Mert Mumtaz, the co-founder of Helius Labs, said:

“Look all I’m saying is if helius or knapsack or tensor had metaplex’s funding (18 times more) – solana would now be a Type 3 civilization on the Kardashev scale, harnessing the power of dyson spheres for intergalactic blockchain dominance against the dark elves.”

Solana NFTs fell over 50% in sales in yr

Solana NFTs are down over 50% in sales volume year over year. According to CryptoSlam, Solana NFTs have dropped from $26 million in May 2022 to just $3.4 million in May 2023. Solana NFTs have also seen brief growth in the number of NFT buyers and sellers.

Solana NFT Sales Volume: Source: CryptoSlam.io

In December 2022, Solana experienced a major blow to its top NFT collection. DeGods and y00ts, announced plans to switch to their rival Ethereum network. DeGods migrated to Ethereum while its sister NFT collection y00ts went to Polygon, an Ethereum scaling solution.

DeGods will officially bridge to Ethereum in the first quarter of 2023.

The bridge is not the goal.

It’s on the way to get there. pic.twitter.com/Wy8CbGx5VZ

— DeGods III (@DeGodsNFT) 25 December 2022

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