Crypto Music App Audius Bridges AUDIO Token From Ethereum to Solana

Streaming music service Audius was originally built to be used on the Ethereum network, but it has gradually embraced rival blockchain Solana as a way to scale to meet increasing demand. Today, the firm announced the latest step in that process: bridging its Ethereum-based AUDIO token to Solana.

Starting today, any AUDIO token holder can move the ERC-20 token from Ethereum to Solana using Wormhole’s Portal, a cross-platform bridge that lets users “wrap” an asset from one blockchain to use it on the other. When bridging, the native Ethereum tokens are locked into Wormhole’ssmart contract, which then produces new native Solana tokens to use instead.

What’s the value? Audius says that this bridging process is an important step to bringing more functionality over to the rising Solana ecosystem, with a release claiming that it is “paving the way for future Solana-based features on Audius.” The platform is also now offering new token rewards to users for actions like downloading the mobile app or inviting friends.

Audius adds that it sees this as another potential access point for new users to get onboarded to the blockchain-based music platform. An Audius representative told Decrypt that Solana’s “low-cost, faster, and more environmentally-conscious blockchain” will help the firm “create an accessible gateway to onboard users into the Web3 ecosystem.”

To support the bridged and wrapped AUDIO token, Audius will establish liquidity pools on the Solana decentralized exchanges Raydium, Serum, and Orca, plus the wrapped token will be available for purchase via Serum.

The plan to bring AUDIO to Solana was executed via a series of governance proposals, which were proposed by the Audius core team and approved last week by community members. Audius has token-based governance via a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), which was established when the platform aidropped 50 million free tokens to artists and fans back in October 2020.

Audius is a decentralized music streaming and sharing platform that’s billed as a hybrid of services like Spotify and SoundCloud, with the added benefit of token rewards for users and creators alike. Musicians Deadmau5, Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda, Weezer, and Skrillex have released songs via the site, which has attracted more than 5.3 million unique users over the past month, according to the site’s own analytics.

The platform began its entry into the Solana ecosystem in October 2020, announcing plans to use the platform to scale its service to potentially millions more users. Last September, Audius added the ability for select users to showcase their owned Solana NFTs via an integration with the popular Phantom wallet, joining the previously-added support for Ethereum NFTs.

Audius announced a star-studded $5 million investment round last September that featured artists like Katy Perry, Nas, Steve Aoki, Shinoda, Jason Derulo, The Chainsmokers, Pusha T, and Disclosure. Some of those artists are deeply involved in the crypto space through other endeavors, such as NFT collectibles or additional investments.

Today’s news comes shortly after Wormhole’s widely-publicized hack earlier this month, which saw $320 million worth of ETH stolen via an exploit. Chicago-based investment firm Jump Capital ultimately bailed out Wormhole, replenishing the stolen ETH with its own funds as a bet on the future of the cross-chain bridge.