Coinbase Launches Its NFT Marketplace For Users In The US

Coinbase has launched its highly anticipated NFT marketplace months after announcing that it’d be launching a new marketplace and getting over a million sign-ups in what was called a waitlist that’d give people early access to the marketplace.

Like other marketplaces, Coinbase’s marketplace will give people a platform to trade their digital collectibles. Coinbase is the largest crypto exchange platform in the US by trading volume and launching an NFT marketplace in the US will launch the company into new opportunities. According to its website, the publicly-traded company has about 89 million users, $278 billion in crypto-assets, and 4547 billion in quarterly volume traded.

The NFT marketplace was launched in beta mode with collections of NFTs built on the Ethereum network. While Coinbase promises to include NFT collections based on other blockchains soon, it is already showcasing a number of NFT collections including Azuki and Doodles. The company’s NFT Product Lead Alex Plutzer, while speaking at a press conference said that “We’ll cycle these out over time to help introduce people to awesome NFTs on the platform, especially for people who aren’t as familiar with NFTs.” He was referring to the already available NFT collections on the Coinbase NFT marketplace.

For now, no fees will be incurred for “using” Coinbase’s NFT marketplace. This will only be for a limited period as over time the company plans to charge a fee. Coinbase’s President of Product Sanchan Saxena said that although the fee will increase over time, it will only be a “low single-digit fee.”

To access Coinbase’s NFT marketplace, users can use their already existing Coinbase wallet or add any self-custody wallet they own.

“We’ve been able to successfully bring the complexities of cryptocurrencies in an easy-to-use way to the masses. We believe we have a similar opportunity to do so for NFTs as well,” Coinbase’s President of Product Sanchan Saxena said.

Coinbase, however, plans to implement a “web3 social marketplace” to its NFT marketplace, Sanchan Saxena said. This marketplace will give people the access to sell, purchase and engage with creators, collectors, and the community around different NFTs. This is a strategy Coinbase is looking to employ to stay ahead of rivals.

People who joined Coinbase’s waitlist last year can access the marketplace as beta testers, be able to create a profile as well as showcase their NFTs – both the ones they’ve created and traded.

President of Product Sanchan Saxena confirmed that the marketplace will be open to everyone in the coming weeks, they just have to be at least 18 years of age to be able to sign up.

Coinbase has plans of adding more features for users in the future. Some of these features will include NFT drops, minting, and communities as well as the option of making purchases with a credit card. It also has plans of partnering with NFT artists across the world.