Magic Eden moves beyond NFTs with Slingshot acquisition
The company that specialises in trading NFTs, Magic Eden, is expanding its portfolio of offerings, even as trading volumes for digital collectables continue to slide.
Monthly trading volume for NFTs has dropped sharply – from a peak of $6 billion in January 2022 to $429 million in March 2025, according to data from CryptoSlam. So far this year, NFT marketplaces have processed $1.6 billion in NFT sales from 14 million transactions. But each month of 2025 has seen a decline in trading volume. The market appears unlikely to match 2024’s total of $8.9 billion, let alone 2022’s $23.7 billion record.
While some platforms born during the NFT boom have exited the space, Magic Eden still operates – and is currently branching out. The marketplace announced on Wednesday that it had acquired Slingshot, a cryptocurrency trading platform.
Slingshot was valued at $84 million in 2022, according to Pitchbook. Magic Eden co-founder and CEO Jack Lu has not disclosed the acquisition terms but said it involved a mix of equity and the company’s cryptocurrency, $ME. Talks began in January, concluding in April this year.
“I wouldn’t say it was love at first sight, but certainly, there was a lot of alignment very, very early on,” Lu said.
Magic Eden launched in 2021 with a focus on Solana-based NFTs, and later expanded to support Ethereum, Polygon, Bitcoin, and other chains. As trading activity slowed across the market, it introduced a cryptocurrency wallet in January 2024 to support NFTs and cryptocurrencies. “The current strategy that we have is called one platform, all chains, all assets,” Lu said.
The companies latest move comes at a time when several competitors are pulling back. DraftKings, GameStop, and Bybit all closed their NFT marketplaces recently, with Bybit citing declining trading volume in an April 8 announcement. NFT platform X2Y2 also plans to shut down on April 30 as it pivots toward artificial intelligence.
The Slingshot acquisition brings additional cryptocurrency functionality to Magic Eden. Slingshot lets users trade tokens based on more than 10 blockchains without requiring bridging – a typically complex process for users switching between chains. The application lists new tokens automatically and doesn’t rely on centralised exchanges.
“The acquisition is a major step forward in advancing the Magic Eden vision, which is to provide users worldwide with a and safe way to buy and sell cryptocurrency and digital assets across all chains,” Lu said.
Slingshot has attracted nearly a million users and is among the few platforms to list tokens from several blockchains in one interface. It supports payments via credit card, PayPal, Apple Pay, and Venmo. The company plans to support Bitcoin-native tokens, or “runes,” for trading in the near future.
“We are excited to join forces with Magic Eden to change the way the world trades crypto,” said Slingshot CEO Clinton Bembry.
(Photo by Unsplash.)
See also: Cryptocurrency stocks fall following US tariff escalation
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