A lot can happen in a year and a half.

The cryptocurrency market has been through a literal rollercoaster in terms of price, regulations, and overall development.

Exchanges imploded, multi-billion dollar ecosystems collapsed, regulators are stepping in now more than ever, banks are shutting down, and whatnot. And it almost seems as if time is flying.

In 2021, CryptoPotato attended Solana’s Breakpoint in Lisbon and had the chance to talk to Brandon Millman – the CEO of the largest self-custody wallet on Solana – Phantom. Fast forward some 15 months later, and we spoke to him again – this time during ETH Denver in 2023.

Why is a Solana-native wallet at ETH Denver? Phantom is currently in its multichain beta, adding both Ethereum and Polygon chains to its wallet experience. Brandon and his team, previous 0x engineers, are returned to the Ethereum community to debut Phantoms wallet.

Let’s dive in.

A Vortex of Ups and Downs: From 2021 to 2023

Q: So, the last time we talked was during Breakpoint in Lisbon in 2021. It’s safe to say that the industry is nowhere near where it was back then. Let’s dive right into it – what has changed for you guys since then?

A: November 2021 saw the crypto market cap hit an all-time high. It was an amazing year for all of crypto. One thing that was very interesting was the NFT market on Solana really taking off in 2022. I think it started going in August 2021 and then switched to full gear in 2022.

Up until August or September 2022, there was a lot of NFT activity on Solana (pre-FTX scandal) — much of it by Magic Eden. Together with Phantom, this delivered an unrivaled NFT experience and helped contribute to substantial growth.

What we noticed was that Solana attracted a really different demographic than Ethereum. There was not much overlap – Solana had a much younger crowd, which was a perfect match for new NFT projects that were more affordable and attainable. Not to mention, this group of collectors was predominantly US-based.

Obviously, toward the end of the year, there was the FTX debacle. Due to FTX’s proximity to the Solana ecosystem, some proj