Coinbase has launched the beta version of its NFT marketplace on the Ethereum blockchain. The crypto exchange company will only allow a small set of creators, who are on the company’s waitlist to join the Beta program.
Beta testers will be able to create a Coinbase NFT profile, buy and sell NFTs using any crypto wallet, whether that’s Coinbase Wallet or something else. The company has also announced zero transaction fees for beta creators. “We’ll eventually add fees, which will be in line with Web3 industry standards, and we’ll provide notice before anything changes.”
Coinbase NFT marketplace comes with features that resemble social media platforms. The NFT marketplace has three tabs: Discover, Shop and Trending.
Browse NFTs for sale with the Discover feed. (Image: Coinbase)
According to Coinbase, as you engage with the marketplace, recommendations on your Discover feed will improve based on what you buy, what’s trending, who you follow, and more. The company is also looking to take on established players in the space by adding social features, like a comment system (with upvotes and downvotes) and an algorithmic feed.
As per the company’s blog post, a wide range of projects from featured creators like Doodles, Boss Beauties, and Azuki have been added to the NFT marketplace. Users will be able to buy these NFT collections, directly from the Shop Tab or from the feed.
Additionally, the company is planning to add drops, minting, token-gated communities, and the option to buy NFTs with your Coinbase account or a credit card. It is also exploring ways to add support for NFTs on multiple blockchains.
While Coinbase is a major player in the crypto exchange world, it does feel like it’s getting into NFTs a bit late, and at a time when NFT sales have plunged drastically.
According to CryptoSlam tracker, in January the sales in NFT were $4.6 billion. By the end of March, the NFT sales stood at $2.44 billion, a decline of 53 per cent in NFT sales. The data further shows that the number of unique buyers dropped from 9.98 lakhs in January to 6.4 lakhs in March and currently stands at 3.81 lakhs for the month of April, a decrease of 66.5 per cent unique buyers. Meanwhile, OpenSea, the largest NFT marketplace, has around 67 per cent fewer trades compared to what it had in March.