With wrapped AUDIO coins, new incentive options, and more teased ahead, Audius is expanding deeper into the Solana ecosystem.
Audius has released a packaged Solana version of their AUDIO token on Ethereum.
Audius is growing its presence in Solana and hints at more Solana-specific features to come.
Music-streaming service Audius was created with the intention of being utilised on the Ethereum network, but it has gradually adopted competing blockchain Solana as a means of scaling to meet growing demand. The latest phase in that process was unveiled today: the firm’s AUDIO token, which is based on Ethereum, has been linked to Solana.
Wormhole’s Portal, a cross-platform bridge that lets users “wrap” an asset from one blockchain to utilise it on the other, allows any AUDIO token holder to move the ERC-20 token from Ethereum to Solana starting today. When bridging, the native Ethereum tokens are locked within Wormhole’s smart contract, which then generates new native Solana tokens.
What is the worth? This bridging procedure, according to Audius, is a key step in bringing more functionality to the growing Solana ecosystem, “paving the way for future Solana-based services on Audius,” according to a press release. Users can now earn fresh tokens for acts such as installing the mobile app or inviting friends on the network.
Audius goes on to say that it sees this as another another way for new people to join the blockchain-based music platform. Solana’s “low-cost, speedier, and more ecologically responsible blockchain,” according to an Audius official, will enable the company “establish an accessible gateway to onboard customers into the Web3 ecosystem.”
Audius will create liquidity pools on the Solana decentralised exchanges Raydium, Serum, and Orca to support the bridged and wrapped AUDIO tokens, and the wrapped token will be accessible for purchase on Serum.
The plan to bring AUDIO to Solana was carried out through a set of governance ideas made by the Audius core team and supported by community members last week. Audius is governed by a decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO), which was founded in October 2020 when the platform gave away 50 million free tokens to artists and followers.
Audius is a decentralised music streaming and sharing network that bills itself as a cross between Spotify and SoundCloud, with the added bonus of token compensation for both users and composers. According to the site’s own metrics, Deadmau5, Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda, Weezer, and Skrillex have all released songs through the site, which has received over 5.3 million unique users in the last month.
The platform joined the Solana ecosystem in October 2020, indicating ambitions to use it to scale its service to possibly millions of more customers. Audius offered the option for select customers to show off their Solana NFTs via an integration with the popular Phantom wallet in September, adding to the previously added support for Ethereum NFTs.
Last September, Audius announced a $5 million investment round that included Katy Perry, Nas, Steve Aoki, Shinoda, Jason Derulo, The Chainsmokers, Pusha T, and Disclosure. Some of the artists are heavily invested in the crypto realm through other ventures, such as NFT collectibles or further investments.
Wormhole’s widely-publicized hack earlier this month resulted in the theft of $320 million worth of ETH via an exploit, prompting today’s announcement. Jump Capital, a Chicago-based investment firm, ultimately backed out Wormhole, replacing the stolen ETH with its own assets as a bet on the cross-chain bridge’s future.
Disclaimer: These are the writer’s opinions and should not be considered investment advice. Readers should do their own research.
