Still early in its journey towards mass adoption, the NFT space holds great potential for growth in the coming years. We believe that the key to this upcoming expansion is affordable and accessible NFTs for millions, not thousands of users—and that’s exactly how Mantle Network and RaribleX align in their values.

Mantle is a Layer 2 (L2) rollup solution for Ethereum crafted to mitigate the high costs and sluggish transaction speeds of the main network. It differentiates itself by marrying Optimistic rollups with a decentralized EigenDA-powered data availability layer. That way, it tackles Ethereum’s cost and speed issues while also elevating Mantle in terms of scalability and efficiency.

Recognizing the importance of NFT projects as central to any blockchain ecosystem, Mantle reached out to RaribleX for a solution that would facilitate that organic growth.

Seizing the opportunity for growth

Given Mantle's expertise in enhancing transaction speed and reducing costs, the obvious missing element in their ecosystem was a dedicated NFT platform tailored to these strengths. Acting as one of the key pieces in the growing L2’s ecosystem, it would foster additional onchain activity. 

RaribleX stepped in to fill this crucial gap with the Mintle NFT marketplace. 

The partnership initially started with the Rarible Protocol supporting Mantle Network and quickly progressed to the launch of Mantle’s leading secondary marketplace.

Our shared vision revolved around creating a unique web3 experience on Mantle, a platform that is inclusive for both NFT creators and collectors.

Jumpstarting NFT collections on Mantle

By the time the Mintle project kicked off, Mantle’s dapp ecosystem was already experiencing rapid growth as an innovative L2 blockchain. We tailored the NFT marketplace to facilitate this quick expansion and address the needs of the Mantle community, who were eager for native NFT action on their chain. To amplify the launch, we leveraged Rarible’s marketing channels, which boast over 1.5 million subscribers combined.

A key event in this rollout was the mint of Citizens of Mantle, the blockchain’s flagship NFT collection created in collaboration with Chen Man, a renowned female artist and fashion photographer. These PFPs are dynamic and upgradable, enabling holders to shape their own digital identity within the Mantle ecosystem.

The mint of Citizens of Mantle coincided with the Mintle marketplace's launch—combined, these events marked the kickoff of NFT ecosystem within the burgeoning L2 chain. 

As a result, Mintle promptly became the go-to marketplace for the chain's most important collection, witnessing an immediate influx of native listings. Similarly, the Citizens of Mantle received an additional marketing boost, leading to an increased number of people bridging their funds to Mantle and commencing their journey there—beginning with the free NFT mint. This was evidenced by over 200,000 waitlist entries in the first week after the announcement was made.

At the time of writing, the collection had a total volume of over 422,000 $MNT.

Launching an NFT ecosystem through a marketplace 

From gaming and art to PFPs, a diverse range of web3 projects are growing on Mintle. Low gas fees create more opportunities for both developers and traders, while the user-friendly UI is designed to provide a straightforward experience for collectors.

As Layer 2 solutions like Mantle gain prominence (especially with the looming bull run), Mintle and its NFT ecosystem are poised for even greater expansion.

Here are some key stats from the launch: 

• In the first two months from launch, Mintle witnessed over 100,000 visits and 16,500 connected wallets

• Mintle Network’s NFT space has been expanding through Mintle, with 56+ projects listed

• Amplified by Rarible’s marketing channels, Mintle and the Citizens of Mantle were off to a quick start with the collection’s volume surpassing 300,000 $MNT in the first three months.

With the launch of Mintle, the partnership between RaribleX and Mantle demonstrated how to create and grow an entire NFT ecosystem from scratch.