what's Bubblegum?
Bubblegum is the Metaplex Protocol program designed for creating and managing compressed NFTs (cNFTs) on the Solana blockchain. It enables scalable NFT minting by using concurrent Merkle trees to store NFT data off-chain while anchoring hashes on-chain, drastically reducing costs compared to traditional NFTs. This allows for minting millions of NFTs affordably, making it suitable for large-scale applications like gaming assets, collectibles, and digital identities. Bubblegum v2 builds on the original with enhanced features such as greater flexibility in NFT metadata, protocol fees for sustainability, and improved integration via SDKs in languages like TypeScript and Rust. Developers interact with it through Metaplex's libraries, initializing Merkle trees, minting cNFTs, and verifying ownership without full on-chain storage. It integrates seamlessly with Solana's ecosystem, supporting tools like Umi for streamlined development.
Bubblegum v2 launched, increasing compressed NFT activity on Solana via Sorare and CrossTheAges.
Links
x.com/metaplexCreation and transfer activity of compressed NFTs on Bubblegum has increased significantly, driven in part by Sorare and CrossTheAges usage.
Bubblegum v2 brings royalties, freezing transfer delegates, and additional protocol upgrades through integration with core.
Over 2 million NFTs have been minted with Bubblegum v2.
BeamableNetwork used Bubblegum v2 in September to mint Alpha Checker Node Licenses with custom royalty enforcement and one-year freeze period, and will open-source their distribution tool for other builders.
Over 1 million NFTs have been minted with Bubblegum v2.