eBay Closes Acquisition of UK-Based NFT Marketplace KnownOrigin

Major e-commerce company eBay recently acquired NFT marketplace KnownOrigin. While the value of the acquisition remains undisclosed, the deal marks eBay’s most significant move into the growing industry. “This partnership will help us attract a new wave of NFT creators and collectors,” explained David Moore, co-founder of KnownOrigin.

The UK-based marketplace regards itself as “one the world’s first, and largest, NFT Marketplaces.” Data from crypto tracker DappRadar ranks KnowOrigin at the 12th spot in terms of the all-time trading volume. The marketplace stands at $7.8 million in terms of trade volume since it was founded in 2018. Earlier in February, KnownOrigin raised $4.3 million during a series A round co-led by crypto venture capital firms GBV and Sanctor Capital.

Just last year, eBay also enabled the sale of NFTs on its site. The firm’s latest partnership with KnowOrigin allows it to better monitor and control NFT transactions. “With this acquisition, we will remain a leading site as our community is increasingly adding digital collectibles,” added eBay CEO Jamie Iannone.

At the moment, approved eBay sellers can only list NFTs the same way they would a physical item. This would entail the inclusion of pertinent details such as the token’s mint number as well as a connected digital wallet for the buyer to receive the NFT post-sale. However, eBay has set NFT sales to a maximum of $10,000. Additionally, the firm only offers NFTs through a buy-it-now scheme where both parties must be within the same country. The company, moreover, prohibits the sale of digital tokens along with physical items.

It’s also important to note that eBay established a vault facility earlier this month. It is still yet to comment on whether there will be an integration between physical collectibles in the vault and NFTs down the line. Nonetheless, eBay continues to dive deeper into the NFT industry. In May, the firm unveiled its debut NFT collection in collaboration with Tezos and OneOf.

Sources: The Verge, CoinDesk