Solana's Cardinal protocol, which aimed to improve NFT utility, is shutting down operations due to challenging economic conditions. The protocol raised $4.4 million in funding last year and had over 65,000 NFTs staked on its platform. As per the closing schedule, operations will halt on July 19, with withdrawals allowed until August 26. The Cardinal team acknowledged the difficulty of the macroeconomic environment and stated that NFT-based products remain constrained within the crypto maximalist community. Despite this setback, the NFT market has shown signs of maturing, with Q1 2023 being the best quarter since Q2 2022, according to DappRadar.
