**Magic Eden** has abandoned the multi-chain strategy that once propelled it to become the largest NFT marketplace by trading volume and will terminate its Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) compatible marketplace as early as the first week of March, while also gradually ceasing cross-chain wallet operations by April.

CEO **Jack Lu** announced on Friday that the company is realigning its focus around the "massive opportunity in iGaming" as it moves away from the digital collectible business. The digital collectible space is where Magic Eden built its reputation.

This platform will continue to support Solana-based assets launched in 2021. According to Dune data as of last month, Solana assets accounted for the vast majority of a monthly trading volume of $576 million.

During the same period, the share of Bitcoin-based assets was limited to $121,000, which somewhat explains the economic background of this withdrawal decision.

From Ordinals pioneer to iGaming betting

Magic Eden is one of the leading platforms that supported Bitcoin Ordinals shortly after its introduction in early 2023, securing more than half of the trading volume in this emerging market in its first week.

At that time, Bitcoin-based assets accounted for about 70% of total NFT market activity.

The company has also expanded to EVM-compatible chains such as Polygon, Base, and Avalanche (AVAX) aiming for cross-chain dominance, but this experiment is now coming to an end.

In January, Lu unveiled the cryptocurrency casino and sports betting platform 'Dicey' and mentioned a trend he calls the 'speculation supercycle.' He reaffirmed on Friday that iGaming will be the company's top strategic direction going forward. Magic Eden also acquired the mobile trading app Slingshot Finance, which claimed to facilitate multi-chain meme coin trading last year.

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Token and funding status

Magic Eden's platform reward and governance token ME traded for about $0.12 on CoinGecko as of Friday, down 97% from its peak of $5.63 shortly after listing in December 2024. The company stated that it will halt the NFT buyback program and restructure the use of ME tokens across future products.

Magic Eden has raised a total of $140 million to date, including $130 million secured in a Series B round co-led by Greylock and Electric Capital in 2022, which recognized a corporate valuation of $1.6 billion.

Users holding Bitcoin Ordinals, Runes, or EVM-based assets in the Magic Eden wallet must withdraw their assets before mid-March since the wallet will switch to export-only mode from mid-month ahead of its complete shutdown in early April.

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