The world’s second-largest crypto exchange, Coinbase, is planning to build a marketplace that will allow users to mint, collect and trade non-fungible tokens or NFTs. Users can join a waitlist to get early access to the feature, according to the business.
NFTs are one-of-a-kind digital assets used to indicate ownership of online items such as collectible trading cards or rare paintings. These tokens are non-fungible which means you can’t trade or exchange one NFT with another like you can with Bitcoin, Ethereum or any other cryptocurrencies.
This year has seen a surge in the sale of such tokens. According to DappRadar, a startup that collects data on crypto-based applications, the NFT industry surpassed $10 billion in transaction volume in the third quarter of 2021.
The nearly $70 million spent for a digital collage by Mike Winkelmann, the artist known as Beeple, and the roughly $3 million paid for the first-ever tweet are examples of notable transactions.
Coinbase NFT, the company’s NFT marketplace, will contain “social features” and tap into the “creative economy,” which refers to those who generate money by uploading films and other content to the internet.
NFTs, according to proponents, are a way to appropriately compensate artists whose revenue has decreased as a result of the broad availability of material online. Critics, on the other hand, see them as yet another speculative bubble waiting to explode in the crypto market.
Coinbase’s entrance into the NFT industry, however, could be a means for the company to diversify its revenue streams, given it is currently reliant on exchange fees.
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