Sushi to Launch NFT Marketplace Shoyu Next Month

Key Takeaways

The first iteration of Sushi’s NFT marketplace, Shoyu, is expected to go live in August. 
It will initially launch on Ethereum and Polygon, with multi-chain support in the pipeline. 
The platform’s designers have optimized gas fees by moving the order book for the NFT trades off Ethereum.

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A group of developers supporting the popular SushiSwap protocol has written the smart contracts for a new NFT marketplace called Shoyu. The platform will give earnings to xSushi holders and optimize gas fees for NFT trades. 

Developers Plan Shoyu Launch

Sushi is launching an NFT marketplace called Shoyu.

LevX, the lead developer behind the project, posted an update about the platform on Sushi’s forum Wednesday. Shoyu’s pseudonymous team of developers noted that the protocol’s design has been completed, though there is still work to do on the frontend, cashing layer, and infrastructure. LevX also shared other details concerning features, the roadmap, fee structure, and a solution to Ethereum’s gas fee problem.  

The contracts are currently unaudited, but the team has scheduled security checks from Peckshield, Mixbytes, and Zokyo. Apart from LevX, other lead contributors to the code are Future Fund, Ayoki, Evan Keast, Zach Noble, and Omakase Bar.

The proposal for the NFT platform was first raised in March. The community voted for the name “Shoyu,” which means soy sauce in Japanese.

Shoyu is planning to launch a digital collectible marketplace and a 3D metaverse similar to games like Axie Infinity and Decentraland. 

The platform will support NFTs from Ethereum and other chains in a Solidity-based multi-chain ecosystem. It will also enable Sushi token holders to earn a portion of the fees the protocol generates. According to the plans posted on the Sushi forum, 2.5% of every transaction will go to xSUSHI holders (xSUSHI is the liquidity provider token obtained from staking SUSHI on SushiSwap’s pools). 

Shoyu is slated to launch around mid-August with further updates planned for November and January 2022. The team is working on a “Japanese sensibility and aesthetic” for the interface. 

Shoyu’s contracts will also come with an in-built exchange function to optimize gas fees. It will reduce the number of on-chain bids for NFTs on Ethereum by taking an off-chain approach. Conversely, it will use an on-chain order book on Polygon. 

Shoyu is not the only platform the Sushi community has been working on this year. In May, it launched an initial offering launchpad called MISO. The first sale was for a rare bottle of tokenized sake.

The NFT space took off earlier this year and has continued to draw interest despite the negative price action in the crypto market. NFTs have become popular among digital artists, musicians, sports personalities, governments, and celebrities as a way of sharing content with fans. 

In a sign of the space’s enduring popularity, Axie Infinity’s AXS token jumped over 200% in the first week of July. Decentraland’s MANA token also surged over 50% in the same period. 

Meanwhile, celebrities and personalities from the sporting and entertainment worlds continue to enter the market en masse. Sushi’s Shoyu will attempt to capture some of the market share while competing with the likes of Rarible, OpenSea, Decentraland, and Axie Infinity. 

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