Coinbase Unveils New NFT Marketplace with Mix of Social Media Features

On Wednesday, crypto exchange Coinbase announced the beta launch of its own NFT marketplace following its unveiling earlier in October. While only a limited number of users will be granted access to the platform, the company is looking forward to adding more individuals who are part of its waitlist over the coming weeks as testing advances. Access will be granted based on a user’s position in the aforementioned list, of which there are around 8.4 million email addresses on the waitlist for Coinbase NFT.

“We believe NFTs are here to stay,” noted a Coinbase spokesperson. “Beyond buying and selling NFTs, our marketplace offers better ways to find the right communities and better spaces in which they can feel connected with each other.” The recently opened platform is considered to be an intersection between a social media platform and an NFT marketplace.

“While it is true that buying and selling NFTs is a big part of the ecosystem today, what we have learned by talking to many customers and creators is that there is more to it than just buying and selling. There is the community aspect of it,” elaborated Coinbase vice president of product and ecosystem Sanchan Saxena.

Opportunities for engagement between users and creators will, likewise, be made available, according to Saxena. Similar to social media platforms, a user’s engagement and purchases will be monitored which will, in turn, personalize their feed and allow them to follow other profiles or comment on artworks.

With regards to commenting, Saxena furthered that it will primarily put the responsibility on users and lawmakers to decide on “the law of the land.” Another Coinbase executive added that that staff will “not [be] in the business of judging what’s right, what’s wrong, as long as it’s legal.” However, comments — along with other features — will also be decentralized down the line.

Coinbase is just among the select few crypto exchanges that are making the dive into NFT sales, much like Binance and FTX which introduced their own marketplaces in June and September 2021, respectively. This move comes just as the general NFT market appears to be taking a dive. Nonetheless, OpenSea remains at the top spot for NFT marketplaces with roughly $130 million in 24-hour volume.

Sources: Reuters, CoinTelegraph