Video-game retailer GameStop is going full force into the non-fungible token (NFT) arena after securing a pair of blockchain partnerships in less than two months.
Today the layer-2 protocol Loopring (LRC) announced that the beta version of GameStop’s new NFT platform built on its blockchain is live for early sign-ups and fund deposits, with a full launch forthcoming in the near future.
Loopring says in a new blog post that the high fees associated with NFTs have been a barrier to entry for many would-be participants.
“NFTs are widely becoming a foundational piece for gaming and the coming metaverse. However, developers, gamers, and users continue to get priced out of this new primitive in digital ownership. Access needs to be fast, cheap, and secure for the masses.
The new marketplace built atop Loopring L2 ensures that users receive the strongest digital property rights anchored by a secure, decentralized, and credibly neutral environment like Ethereum.”
Loopring is built on Ethereum (ETH) and utilizes zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs to ensure users’ privacy while transacting on public blockchains. Holders of native token LRC can earn staking rewards from the fees paid by decentralized exchanges (DEXs) built using the Loopring protocol.
Last month GameStop also announced that it would partner with competing L2 scaling solution Immutable X, initially creating a fund worth up to $100 million in IMX tokens to provide grants for NFT creators and technology developers.
The gaming retailer first stated its intentions to create an Ethereum-based NFT marketplace last May, though they had not yet picked a partner at that time.
News of GameStop’s latest partnership sent Loopring skyward, initially lurching by 46% from $0.84 to $1.23.
LRC has since corrected and now trades for $1.09 at time of writing.
GameStop (GME) spearheaded the stock market mania driven by the WallStreetBets Reddit forum at the beginning of 2021, when it saw a nearly 2,800% rise in January, up from a low of $17 to a high of $487.
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