xNFT: The Weapon Behind Mad Lads' Popularity – NFTs That Can Run Code
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xNFT: The Weapon Behind Mad Lads' Popularity – NFTs That Can Run Code
Despite being severely impacted by the FTX collapse, Solana's ecosystem has still seen a surge of innovation.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsProduced by: TechFlow Research
Author: 0xmin
What is xNFT?
I first heard this term in relation to a Solana-based NFT project—Mad Lads.
Since its launch in April, it has become exceptionally popular, showing strong potential to lead a second wave of Solana NFTs. Launched on April 20 at a mint price of 6.9 SOL, its highest sale price reached 1,100 SOL within a week, ranking first globally in weekly trading volume—surpassing established Ethereum blue-chip NFTs such as BAYC.
When discussing Mad Lads, one cannot overlook xNFT—it was the first xNFT series launched by Backpack, a Solana ecosystem wallet.
The "x" stands for "executable," meaning that xNFTs are not just digital assets—they can also run built-in code. Compared to traditional NFTs, xNFTs offer utility and extensibility. An xNFT can function as an application or protocol that interacts with users, other xNFTs, or external data sources. For example, an xNFT allows you to play games, listen to music, or access DeFi protocols. You can even stake your xNFT directly without leaving the wallet, as this functionality is natively integrated into the asset itself.
In short, an xNFT is a decentralized application (dApp) that runs inside an NFT, rather than being merely a static image or video.
Currently, xNFTs are unique to the Solana ecosystem, developed by Coral—the platform behind the Backpack wallet.
In September 2022, Coral announced a $20 million funding round led by FTX Ventures and Jump Crypto, with participation from Multicoin Capital, Anagram, K5 Global, and other strategic investors.
According to Coral, xNFTs will serve as native applications within Backpack—similar to mini-programs in WeChat—allowing users to access on-chain applications, games, or asset portals directly from their wallets.
Backpack's relationship to xNFTs is akin to Windows' relationship to software programs—or, as Coral puts it, an “xNFT operating system.”
The primary use cases for xNFTs currently center around gaming and DeFi.
In gaming, xNFTs are games playable directly from the wallet. Additionally, xNFTs can represent in-game assets such as characters, items, weapons, or skins. Currently, there are already 15 xNFT games listed on the official website.
For instance, Moongame is an xNFT that lets players use their NFTs as spaceships to play a space-themed arcade game.
In DeFi, xNFTs act as all-in-one portals with strong composability. For example, Solend is a lending protocol on Solana; users can directly access their accounts and manage their positions on Solend through the Solend xNFT within the Backpack wallet.
Although Solana suffered greatly following the FTX collapse, leading many to believe it would fade into obscurity, the ecosystem continues to produce significant innovation—at least for now—and remains worthy of long-term attention.
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