Coinbase, a popular platform for buying and selling cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, announced on Tuesday plans to launch Coinbase NFT, a new peer-to-peer guide to building a P2P marketplace for non-fungible tokens, or NFTs. You will be able to request early access and updates on the Coinbase website.
“Today, we are announcing Coinbase NFT, a peer-to-peer marketplace that will make it easier than ever to mint, buy, display, and discover NFTs,” the company said in a blog post. “Just as Coinbase helped millions of people easily and reliably access Bitcoin for the first time – we want to do the same for NFTs.”
Still a relatively new phenomenon, NFTs are digital assets, with independent value such as music, works of art or even tweets that have been certified for authenticity on the blockchain. Throughout 2021, NFTs of all kinds have attracted huge interest from potential buyers and sellers, with some selling for thousands or even millions of dollars. In September, a collection of NFT cartoon monkeys sold at auction house Sotheby’s for $24.4 million.
Now, citing the company’s mission to “increase economic freedom in the world,” Coinbase wants to take action.
“By enabling more people to join the creative economy and profit from their work, NFTs play an important role in this mission,” the company said in its post. “NFT artists have shaken up the traditional art world. Industries like fashion, gaming, and music are recognizing the power of NFTs in opening up new forms of creativity and ownership.”
Coinbase is not alone when it comes to NFTs. In recent months, platforms like Twitter and TikTok have moved to incorporate NFTs into their user experiences, and big names like Fortune, Visa, and DC are also dipping their toes into the digital space.
For Coinbase, the upcoming marketplace aims to put “art and the artist experience first.”
“All NFTs are on-chain,” the Coinbase blog adds. “The initial launch will support Ethereum-based ERC-721 and ERC-1155 standards with multi-chain support planned soon after.”
The expansion into NFTs follows Coinbase’s acquisition of Dogecoin this past summer, along with the still-delayed launch of the company’s Lend program, which allows some customers to “earn interest on select assets on Coinbase, starting with 4% APY on USD Coin (USDC).
Last month, the platform revealed a large-scale phishing attack that affected users earlier this year. The company said it “immediately fixed the vulnerability and worked with these customers to regain control of their accounts and refund the funds they lost.”
