Solana mints a brick-and-mortar store

The Future. Solana is opening a physical store in New York City called Solana Spaces, which will essentially be the Apple Store of the crypto world. If the store piques the interest of shoppers that aren’t plugged into everything Web3, Solana Spaces could help introduce the crypto to a larger, more casual user base.

Step into Solana
The cryptocurrency hopes that going physical may help more people go digital.

• Dubbed Solana Spaces, the store is located in Hudson Yards in Manhattan.
• Input describes it as “a mix between a crypto community center and physical ad.”
• Patrons can “attend informational events that span the world of crypto, set up wallets in-store to begin investing, and purchase merchandise showcasing popular NFT projects.”
• And everything can be paid for using Solana’s payment network, Solana Pay.

Of course, all of the store’s elements center around projects built on the Solana blockchain.

Crypto concierge
It may seem strange that a blockchain project all about unlocking the power of the decentralized internet would open a very-centralized store, but Solana  may be looking for a way to expand its reach to a less-online clientele. Crypto can be complicated, but by offering what is essentially a Genius Bar for Solana, blockchain professionals can make it easier for people to get signed up and learn how to use the crypto.

And as Solana begins to offer products and services that exist as hardware objects, Solana Spaces could be the perfect incubator to beta test them and drive sales.