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- Coinbase NFT marketplace will be launched by year-end, with unique attributes such as social and discovery features.
- The platform will likely be a big rival to the Mark Cuban-backed OpenSea marketplace, arguably the world’s largest NFT platform.
Coinbase, through its soon to be launched Coinbase NFT platform, is seeking a foray into the non-fungible tokens (NFTs) frenzy. The exchange announced Tuesday its plans to launch an NFT platform by the end of the year. In preparation, Coinbase has launched a waitlist for persons interested in experiencing the platform first-hand.
Coinbase Vice President of Product Sanchan Saxena said;
Just as Coinbase helped millions of people access Bitcoin for the first time in an easy and trusted way — we want to do the same for the NFTs,
With the new venture, Coinbase hopes to provide a peer-to-peer marketplace that simplifies the whole NFT process. The platform will facilitate the minting and showcasing of NFTs. The marketplace will also have a discovery feature for viewers to discover new offerings they might like.
As Coinbase touts, the NFT platform will have a user-friendly interface that hides the complexity of NFTs “behind the scenes.” Coinbase NFT will also simplify creators’ maintenance of “creative control” of their content, through decentralized contracts and metadata transparency.
Coinbase NFT
Notably, the initial launch will support the Ethereum based ERC-721 and ERC-1155 standards. Other features include curated personal feeds and social tools for forming communities. The platform will also have profiles to showcase work in a centralized manner. Coinbase will provide additional details in the future, such as fees charged on NFTs. The project’s launch date is yet to be specified.
NFTs continue growing in popularity led by inspiration from renowned artists such as Mike Winkelmann, aka Beeple. In March, the artist auctioned a piece dubbed “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” for a mind-boggling $69 million.
Seeing as Coinbase is the leading crypto exchange in the US by daily traded volume, Coinbase NFT may give OpenSea, the largest NFT Marketplace worldwide, a run for its money. In Sept. 2021 alone, the Mark Cuban-backed platform posted $3 billion worth of transactions. So far this month, the platform has recorded another $1.3 billion in transaction volume.
After the news, Coinbase stock jumped up slightly but was 3.2 percent down as markets closed yesterday. The stock price closely tracks the price of Bitcoin, which was also 3.1 percent down yesterday.
Nonetheless, NFT critics still rant about the collectibles being nothing but a bubble that will soon burst. These naysayers also warn that NFT platforms are rife with fraud and abuse, especially from insiders. It was not so long ago that an OpenSea employee admitted to several accounts of insider trading.
Read More: OpenSea admits that one of its employee’s was involved in NFT insider trading
Coinbase, has, however, noted that it will take certain measures to ensure Coinbase NFT is unaffected by such incidents:
[Our] insider trading policies are designed so that no one associated with the company can trade crypto assets (including NFTs) with information that is not public.
