E-commerce titan eBay is hopping on the non-fungible token mania after allowing the sale of NFTs on its platform.
On Tuesday, eBay became the first e-commerce firm to join the NFT frenzy after giving the green light to some of its merchants to sell digital items on its platform, according to Reuters.
NFTs are digital assets that have unique cryptographic properties which enable the blockchain to verify the originality and ownership of digital collectibles including artworks, images, video clips, and trading cards.
eBay initially will provide an NFT inventory to select merchants who meet the e-commerce giant’s requirements. The online marketplace adds that its 187 million users can expect the company to implement programs, policies, and tools that will enable the trade of NFTs across a broad range of categories.
Says eBay senior vice president Jordan Sweetnam,
“In the coming months, eBay will add new capabilities that bring blockchain-driven collectibles to our platform.”
The announcement comes about a week after eBay’s chief executive Jamie Iannone said that the company was keeping a close eye on the emerging crypto subsector.
“We’re looking at [NFTs] and exploring opportunities on how we can enable it on eBay in an easy way. When you think about collectibles, everything that’s really collectible has been on eBay for decades.”
NFTs have exploded in popularity in the last few months with celebrities such as Snoop Dogg and The Weeknd cashing in on the trend.
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