OpenSea to support credit card payments for NFTs following Solana integration

Buyers on OpenSea, the world’s leading NFT marketplace, can soon pay for non-fungible tokens without having cryptocurrency – with a credit card, debit card, Google Pay or Apple Pay. This move, which could bring in more newcomers to the NFT space, followed after the announcement of Solana NFT integration.

The move comes through a partnership with MoonPay, a fintech player that builds payment infrastructure in the crypto space, which announced the news Friday morning. MoonPay is also the company that has worked with so many celebrities to facilitate their Bored Ape NFT purchase.

Collectors will be able to pay directly via Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Apple Pay, Google Pay, among other methods, without having to convert to specific cryptocurrencies first, a MoonPay spokesperson told The Block.

The OpenSea’s move is likely aimed at bringing in more mainstream buyers, similar to the strategy NBA Top Shot took when it was red-hot one year ago. It also comes during a busy time for OpenSea, which has made its fair share of crypto headlines in recent months.

This week, the NFT marketplace also confirmed that it will start listing Solana NFTs in April. It’s not clear when exactly OpenSea will start listing Solana NFTs, but the NFT marketplace tweeted a short teaser video that described this move as the “best kept secret in Web3.”

Once completed, Solana will become the third layer-1 and fourth blockchain network whose NFTs can trade on OpenSea (the previous three being Ethereum, Polygon, and Klaytn).

Solana surged on the news. NFT trading volume on Solana increased by over 80% on March 30, and the price of SOL itself also surged – capping off a nearly 24% price increase in the last seven days.