How Bubblegum v2 Powered Over 1 Million NFT Mints on Solana in 2025: Visual Growth Analysis

The NFT landscape on Solana has undergone a seismic shift in 2025, driven by the rapid adoption of compressed NFTs (cNFTs) and the breakthrough release of Bubblegum v2 by Metaplex. With cost efficiency and scalability at its core, Bubblegum v2 has enabled creators to mint over 1 million NFTs in a single month – an achievement that not only redefines what’s possible for digital asset creation but also highlights Solana’s unique position as the go-to blockchain for large-scale NFT projects.

Bubblegum v2: The Engine Behind Mass NFT Minting

In May 2025, Metaplex introduced Bubblegum v2, a major upgrade to its cNFT program on Solana. This release was more than just an incremental improvement – it marked a step change in how efficiently NFTs could be minted and managed. According to Metaplex’s May round-up, creators minted over 13 million digital assets through Metaplex in May alone, including nearly 12 million compressed NFTs.

The economic impact is stark: minting one million regular NFTs would have cost around 24,000 SOL, but with compressed NFTs via Bubblegum v2, that figure plummets to roughly 10 SOL. This represents an astonishing 1,000x reduction in cost, making mass-scale applications feasible for the first time. As a result, projects ranging from gaming assets to generative art collections can now reach audiences at scale without prohibitive expenses.

Key Advantages of Bubblegum v2 for Solana NFT Creators

Massive Cost Reduction: Minting ~1 million regular NFTs on Solana costs about 24,000 SOL, while using Bubblegum v2 for compressed NFTs (cNFTs) reduces this to just ~10 SOL—a 1000x decrease in minting expenses.
Unmatched Scalability: Bubblegum v2 enabled creators to mint nearly 12 million compressed NFTs in May 2025 alone, showcasing Solana’s ability to handle large-scale digital asset creation efficiently.
Streamlined Minting Process: The program supports minting NFTs both with and without collection association, simplifying workflows for diverse creator needs and enabling flexible project structures.
Lower Barrier to Entry: With costs as low as ~0.00001 SOL per NFT, Bubblegum v2 makes NFT creation accessible to independent artists, developers, and large-scale projects alike.
High User Engagement: In May 2025, over 518,000 unique wallets signed transactions on Metaplex, reflecting robust creator and collector participation driven by Bubblegum v2’s efficiency.
Protocol Fee Optimization: Bubblegum v2 contributed to $2.2 million in protocol fees (~13.5K SOL) in May 2025, with a portion allocated to $MPLX buybacks, strengthening the Metaplex ecosystem.

NFT Minting Statistics 2025: By the Numbers

The data from Q1 and Q2 2025 paints a vivid picture of this transformation. While daily average mints from traditional Core NFTs declined by 35% quarter-over-quarter (to just 7,787), daily average mints from Bubblegum cNFTs remained orders of magnitude higher – even after a sharp drop of 75.1% QoQ, they still averaged 882,290 daily mints. This reflects how compressed NFT technology has become the default for high-volume digital asset creation on Solana.

The protocol’s growth is further underscored by financial metrics:

$2.2 million in protocol fees (~13.5K SOL) were generated in May 2025 alone – a 40% month-over-month increase.
$1 million (6K SOL) was allocated for buybacks of $MPLX tokens on behalf of the Metaplex DAO.
Over 518,000 unique wallets signed transactions during May; total unique wallets since launch now exceed 11 million.

This explosive activity is not just about quantity; it’s also about network effects and composability within the broader Solana ecosystem.

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The Technology Powering Solana’s cNFT Surge

The innovation behind Bubblegum v2 lies in its use of Merkle trees and state compression protocols. By storing only minimal proofs on-chain while keeping most metadata off-chain (but still cryptographically verifiable), cNFTs drastically reduce storage requirements and transaction costs. The program supports both collection-based and standalone NFT minting instructions – giving developers flexibility based on their application needs (Solana Stack Exchange).

This architecture doesn’t just save money; it unlocks entirely new use cases:

Pervasive gaming economies: Games can issue millions of unique items without congestion or cost barriers.
Loyalty programs at scale: Brands can distribute digital collectibles to global audiences instantly.
Crowdsourced art and social media integrations: User-generated content can be tokenized affordably for community engagement.

Bubblegum v2’s efficiency is not just theoretical, it’s visible in the on-chain data and real-world adoption. As highlighted in May 2025, over 1.3 million Token Metadata assets were created, with a staggering 93% classified as fungible tokens. This signals a shift in how creators and developers leverage Solana: rather than focusing solely on high-value, low-volume NFT drops, mass-scale digital asset issuance is now the norm. The protocol’s architecture supports this scale without sacrificing security or composability, thanks to cryptographic proofs and robust developer tooling.

Solana NFT Growth: Visual Analysis and Community Impact

Network activity reflects the new paradigm. With over 518,000 unique wallets signing transactions in May: and more than 11 million unique wallets since launch: the ecosystem has never been more accessible. This level of participation is unprecedented in the NFT world, where high minting costs and technical complexity have historically limited access.

The impact resonates across sectors:

Solana NFT Projects That Scaled with Bubblegum v2

PandaTool: Leveraged Bubblegum v2 to mint and manage millions of compressed NFTs for its Web3 tool suite, drastically reducing costs and enabling mass-scale applications on Solana.
Solstats.org: Utilized Bubblegum v2 for large-scale NFT analytics and tracking, supporting real-time data on millions of compressed NFT mints and collections.
Hash Block: Scaled their dApp using Bubblegum v2, integrating NFT compression to support dynamic, high-volume NFT minting for users and developers.
Wotori: Demonstrated Bubblegum v2’s cost-efficiency by minting nearly 1 million compressed NFTs for community engagement and digital collectibles, reducing minting expenses to around 10 SOL.
Metaplex Candy Machine: The official Metaplex Candy Machine integrated Bubblegum v2 to facilitate high-throughput, low-cost NFT launches for creators, powering some of the largest NFT drops on Solana in 2025.

For game studios, this means they can deploy entire economies of digital assets with negligible cost overhead. For artists and brands, it unlocks global campaigns with millions of unique collectibles minted for a fraction of previous expenses. Even DAOs and social platforms are leveraging cNFTs for governance badges and proof-of-participation tokens, all powered by Bubblegum v2’s compression technology.

Economic Sustainability and Protocol Health

Beneath the surface growth metrics lies a healthy economic engine. Protocol fees reached $2.2 million (~13.5K SOL) in May 2025, a direct result of surging mint volumes, and $1 million (6K SOL) was used to buy back $MPLX tokens for the Metaplex DAO treasury (Metaplex May round-up). This feedback loop both rewards token holders and supports ongoing protocol development.

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Looking Ahead: The Roadmap for Compressed NFTs on Solana

The success of Bubblegum v2 sets the stage for even broader adoption. With nearly 12 million compressed NFTs minted in May alone, it’s clear that cNFTs will continue to drive experimentation across gaming, media, DeFi, and beyond. Developers are already exploring integrations with streaming platforms, loyalty ecosystems, and AI-powered generative art, areas where scale and cost efficiency are paramount.

The next frontier will likely involve:

Deeper cross-chain interoperability: Bringing cNFT standards to other blockchains via bridges or Layer 2 solutions.
User-friendly tooling: Further abstracting away complexity for mainstream creators through drag-and-drop interfaces and API-driven platforms.
Sustainability initiatives: Leveraging protocol fees to support open-source development and ecosystem grants.

Bubblegum v2 & Compressed NFT Minting on Solana: Key Questions Answered

What is Bubblegum v2 and how does it enhance NFT minting on Solana?▲

Bubblegum v2 is the latest iteration of the Metaplex Protocol’s compressed NFT (cNFT) program on Solana, launched in May 2025. It builds on the original by dramatically increasing scalability and efficiency, allowing creators to mint millions of NFTs at a fraction of previous costs. This upgrade leverages state compression and Merkle trees, making it possible to mint over 1 million NFTs in a single month while keeping fees low and throughput high.

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How much does it cost to mint compressed NFTs with Bubblegum v2 compared to regular NFTs?▲

Minting costs have been drastically reduced with Bubblegum v2. For example, minting approximately 1 million regular NFTs would cost about 24,000 SOL, but with compressed NFTs, the cost drops to around 10 SOL—a 1,000x reduction. This makes large-scale digital asset creation far more accessible and economically viable for projects and creators on Solana.

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What are the key metrics demonstrating Bubblegum v2’s impact in 2025?▲

In May 2025 alone, over 13 million digital assets were minted via Metaplex, including nearly 12 million compressed NFTs. The protocol generated $2.2 million in fees (~13.5K SOL), a 40% month-over-month increase. Additionally, user engagement remained strong, with 518,000 unique wallets signing transactions, and over 1.2 million fungible tokens created, marking a 12% increase from April.

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How does Bubblegum v2 support large-scale NFT projects and dApps on Solana?▲

Bubblegum v2 enables mass-scale NFT minting by utilizing advanced compression techniques. This allows dApps and creators to deploy collections with millions of NFTs without facing prohibitive costs or network congestion. As a result, Solana can support innovative Web3 applications, gaming platforms, and large-scale loyalty programs, all while maintaining high throughput and low transaction fees.

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What are the main benefits of using compressed NFTs (cNFTs) on Solana?▲

Compressed NFTs offer several advantages: dramatically lower minting costs, efficient on-chain storage, and the ability to scale projects to millions of assets. This reduces the barrier to entry for creators and enables new use cases such as mass airdrops, in-game assets, and digital collectibles. With Bubblegum v2, these benefits are amplified, positioning Solana as a leading blockchain for large-scale digital asset creation.

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The bottom line: Bubblegum v2 has fundamentally changed what’s possible in Web3 media distribution by making mass NFT minting affordable and accessible at scale. For investors tracking Solana ecosystem growth, these metrics aren’t just numbers, they’re leading indicators of network health and future application potential.