Coinbase to launch NFT marketplace
Coinbase, one of the largest crypto exchanges, has announced that it would be soon launching a marketplace for the trading of NFTs which would be a huge boost to the NFT ecosystem in the long term as it is likely to add a lot of credibility to the concept of NFTs.
The NFT markets around the world saw a total transaction volume of over $10 billion in the third quarter of 2021 which was the busiest quarter so far. Though the mainstream crypto users are yet to warm up to the idea of NFTs, it is clear that the ecosystem is growing from strength to strength as more users and businesses begin to pile into the industry. From its usage is restricted to only the art industry, NFTs are now being seen as being able to solve a lot of problems in many industries including movies, ticketing, hotels, and others. People are beginning to realize the usefulness of NFTs in different fields and the growing interest is matched by the developers who continue to build out solutions for NFTs.
One of the main applications of NFTs that Coinbase hopes to tap into is what is called a creator economy. This involves the millions of content creators around the world who create videos and other content and the NFTs can be used to tag them to their content so that they would be able to sell their content and monetize it easily and simply. But the challenge for Coinbase may be lying in wait as they step into NFTs.
Coinbase is already at loggerheads, like many in the crypto space, with the SEC as its new lending product was blocked by the SEC as it continues to believe that many of the cryptos should be treated as securities. Many reports say that SEC may consider NFTs as securities as well but if that is going to be the case, then it is likely that Coinbase could again be in trouble with the SEC. It is also believed that social features would be built into the NFT platform and this could further increase the scrutiny from the SEC as it would like to be able to track the transactions and the sales to make sure that they comply with the existing and any new regulations that are likely to be brought in.
