The Tensor Foundation, operating the Solana-based NFT marketplace, recently announced plans to launch a governance token named TNSR. The announcement has sparked interest among cryptocurrency and NFT communities. The introduction of TNSR aligns with the growing trend towards decentralized governance within the digital asset ecosystem, providing users and stakeholders greater control over platform decisions.
Describing itself as the “Blur of Solana,” Tensor aims to attract professional traders and enthusiasts of the Solana blockchain. This ambition reflects its goal to dominate the Solana NFT marketplace, akin to how Blur has become a leading platform within the Ethereum ecosystem. The Tensor Foundation believes NFTs will soon become more than just a niche for tech enthusiasts. As such, the foundation wrote:
NFTs today are a niche community on the fringes of the web. NFTs tomorrow will power products, businesses, and entire industries. NFT traders will go from thousands — to billions.
The TNSR governance token will be adopted by the Tensor protocols, with the community utilizing it for governance purposes. Last year, Tensor solidified its market position through a $3 million seed funding round, supported by Placeholder VC, Solana Ventures, and Solana co-founders Anatoly Yakovenko and Raj Gokal. While the foundation has teased further details about the TNSR token release, specifics on potential airdrops or its governance functions remain undisclosed.
Tensor’s move to launch a governance token follows a significant increase in its trading activity. The platform reported approximately $2.2 billion in Solana NFT transactions, marking a substantial rise from the previous year’s $7 million. This surge underlines Solana NFTs’ rising popularity and Tensor’s pivotal role in this expanding market. Over the past 90 days, Tensor has accounted for more than 70% of all Solana NFT trading volume, thanks to its strict measures to exclude wash trading from its figures.
The governance token comes as Solana-based NFTs, in general, have witnessed significant sales volume, surpassing $5 billion in recent months. According to data from CryptoSlam, as of 13th March, the all-time sales volume for Solana-based NFTs stands at over $5.17 billion, with more than 2.4 million buyers and 1.6 million sellers, leading to over 44 million NFT transactions on the blockchain. As such, the demand for Solana NFTs is quite evident.
However, the launch of Tensor’s TNSR tokens coincides with Solana facing several network challenges, including congestion. Jito Labs, a Solana infrastructure developer, recently announced the closure of its mempool service to mitigate bot attacks on users during peak periods. This decision is aimed at enhancing the user experience on the Solana network amidst daily influxes of meme coins and NFTs.
