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Solana-Based NFT Firm Metaplex Names Adam Jefferies CEO of New Studio
He will be joined by a new board that includes members from Audius, Coinshares, Cultur3 Capital, Phantom and Saber Labs.
By Eli Tan
Updated May 11, 2023, 6:01 p.m. Published Sep 29, 2021, 1:00 p.m.
Metaplex, a company that allows creators and brands to build their own non-fungible token (NFT) storefronts on the Solana blockchain, named Adam Jefferies as CEO of its new Metaplex Studio.
The company said Wednesday the studio is tasked with onboarding many more artists and makers onto Metaplex. Jefferies will be responsible for creating functional and accessible NFT protocols on the Solana blockchain.
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Read more: Solana Woos Creators With $5M Fund for Artists and Musicians
Jefferies joins Metaplex after a decade working for Citadel, Google and Amazon in various user interface and development roles.
“We’re barely touching the surface of the NFT space right now,” Jefferies told CoinDesk in an interview. “The future of the industry will be built around bridging digital and physical experiences, on the Solana blockchain especially.”
Jefferies predicted NFTs will expand beyond just the current realm of art and collectibles, and eventually include sectors such as health-care records and home-title ownership.
Read more: 4K NFT Marketplace Goes Live, Bringing Physical Goods to the Blockchain
Jefferies is joined by a new board of advisers that includes Audius; CoinShares Chief Strategy Officer Meltem Demirors; Cultur3 Capital co-founders Alex Yamashita, Mark Streeter and Rolf Hoefer; Phantom Chief Product Officer Chris Kalani; and Dylan Macalinao, co-founder of Saber Labs.
The company said it has handled $385 million worth of NFT transactions since June, led by popular Solana projects Degen Ape Academy and Aurory. The company attributes much of its success to the low transactions and minting fees for which Solana is known, typically less than $4 per transaction.
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