Amazon plans to launch its own NFT marketplace next month. The marketplace is rumored to become part of Amazon’s existing online store and would be called “Amazon Digital Marketplace.”
According to multiple sources, Amazon Digital Marketplace will initially be released only for the US market, after which it will gradually be introduced in other countries.
Amazon NFT
E-commerce giant Amazon plans to launch its own NFT marketplace. According to the latest information, Amazon Digital Marketplace will offer 15 different NFT collections upon launch.
The NFTs of that collection will be linked to physical products. For example, when a user buys a sweatshirt in NFT form, it is added to his NFT account, and the physical version is again delivered to the user’s doorstep.
These NTF collections will initially only be available to Amazon’s US customers before they become available globally.
The model in question resembles fashion giant Nike’s approach to NFT products, as Nike was at the forefront of integrating NFTs with its physical products.
Amazon’s NFT marketplace will reportedly be accepting at least a bank and credit card as a payment method. Traditional payment methods also allow those users who do not have access to a crypto wallet to own an NFT product and do not need to buy different cryptocurrencies separately.
The crypto market has reacted to this information enthusiastically because these kinds of launches promote mass adoption.
Amazon’s NFT marketplace has been in development for quite some time
The first news about Amazon’s NFT marketplace was published in January when crypto news site Blockworks reported that the e-commerce giant was developing operations utilizing digital assets.
During the same month, Amazon Web Services (AWS) also announced that it had started collaborating with Ava Labs to accelerate the adoption of blockchain technology. In addition to Ava Labs, AWS also cooperates with Chainlink and VeChain.
Many NFT experts eagerly await the opening of Amazon’s NFT marketplace, as Amazon failed to jump into the NFT business when it peaked in the first half of 2021.
The state of the NFT market right now
Amazon has timed the launch of its NFT marketplace well, as the NFT market is currently in a stable state.
The NFT market experienced its peak at the beginning of 2021 until it started to cool down very quickly towards the end of the same year. However, 2022 brought light to the end of the tunnel for NFT investors, as the number of NFT purchases increased compared to 2021.
According to a report by DappRadar, NFT purchases increased to 101 million transactions in 2022. This is a good 67% increase compared to 2021.
Over the last year, NFTs moved away from quick, popularity-based valuations and towards actual use cases. The new perspectives focused on creating longer-term value and usability. The same trend has continued at the beginning of this year as well.
The most popular blockchain platform for NFT projects based on transaction volume is Ethereum. 21% of the NFT market is in the Ethereum ecosystem. The sales volume of Ethereum-based NFT collections reached $659 million in January of this year.
The next most popular blockchain for NFT projects is Solana. In January, the sales volume of NFT collections built on Solana’s blockchain was $85 million.
The third most popular blockchain for NFT projects is Polygon. In January, the sales volume of NFT collections built on Polygon’s blockchain reached $46 million. This is about 124% more than in December last year.
Amazon’s NFTs will likely be released on the Ethereum blockchain, as Amazon’s own blockchain is also built on top of Ethereum.
Big companies continue to embrace Web3 technologies despite the crypto winter
Although a trillion dollars have been wiped off the market value of cryptocurrencies within a year, large companies continue implementing Web3 technology in increasing numbers.
The latest Finnish company to announce its interest in Web3 technologies was Nokia. Nokia announced in February that it would test different usage methods in metaverses to help employees in remote locations.
For example, Nokia used metaverse in South Australia to assist Cessna aircraft technicians at remote airports.
Marimekko has also experimented with its wings in the metaverse. During 2022, Marimekko organized fashion exhibitions in the Decentraland metaverse.
In addition to Amazon, Spotify, and Sony have also run experiments in the Web3 world.
Spotify announced in February that it plans to test the integration of crypto wallets as part of its music streaming platform.
With this integration, users can listen to playlists that require, for example, the ownership of a certain NFT.
A patent application filed in November last year revealed Sony’s vision for a system that could track the creation, use, and transfer of digital assets created within Sony’s games.
In addition, investment giant Fidelity has hinted at its intention to deepen its cryptocurrency and Web3 offerings with new trademark applications it filed in December last year.
The experiments of these companies in the crypto world have been received with enthusiasm, as positive news about promoting mass adoption has been scarce during the crypto winter. Indeed, many crypto investors believe that the next bull market will arise due to large companies promoting mass adoption.
Briefly: What are NFTs?
NFT stands for non-fungible token. Non-fungible means non-exchangeable or non-replaceable. Token refers to property. A Fungible is an exchangeable commodity, such as a 10-euro banknote.
Simply put, NFTs are digital assets stored on the blockchain that cannot be replaced and can only have one owner at a time. In other words, an NFT is proof of ownership of a digital product intended to be produced in limited quantities.
NFTs are based entirely on blockchain technology and are mainly developed on the Ethereum blockchain. Ethereum is a decentralized platform and is the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization after Bitcoin. It serves as a platform for many cryptocurrencies and NFTs.
The term NFT has not previously had an established Finnish counterpart until Sitra said a few weeks ago that the official translation of NFT is a digital ownership certificate.
Amazon NFT market — FAQ
According to current information, Amazon’s NFT collection will be sold directly on Amazon’s online store. Please note that the NFT collection will initially only be released for the US market before becoming available globally.
E-commerce giant Amazon plans to launch its own NFT marketplace and NFT collection. The NFTs in that collection will be linked to Amazon’s physical products.
For example, when a user buys shoes in NFT form, they are added to his Amazon NFT account, and the physical version of the shoes is again delivered to the user’s doorstep.
Amazon has yet to release an official date to launch its own NFT marketplace. Despite this, many major crypto news sites believe that Amazon will launch its NFT market by the end of May.
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