Amazon To Reportedly Launch NFT Marketplace Next Month

Rumors are swirling that Amazon plans to launch an NFT marketplace in April. But critics are decrying claims that the platform will only accept credit and debit cards.

Amazon will reportedly launch 15 NFT collections alongside its marketplace on April 24, according to anonymous sources cited by Big Whale. The report went on to say the marketplace will be available as a tab on Amazon’s main website titled Amazon Digital Marketplace.

The platform will initially be available to U.S.-based customers before being rolled out internationally. The report also says that the launch of the marketplace was delayed twice in the aftermath of FTX’s high-profile collapse last November.

Many analysts are tipping that Amazon launching an NFT marketplace could be a significant vehicle for onboarding new web3 users.

“Amazon has more than 310 million active customers worldwide,” tweeted Waleswoosh, a crypto influencer. “If only 1% of them show interest in the new digital marketplace, our space will grow x-fold overnight.”

No Support For Digital Assets

But skeptics emphasize that Amazon reportedly won’t support crypto assets on the platform.

“Users will only be able to purchase NFTs using CREDIT CARD,” said AlexIsBuilding, a web3 developer. “Amazon has no intentions to accept cryptocurrency or wallets such as Metamask for the foreseeable future.”

On Tuesday, Blockworks reported that Amazon will produce physical goods tied to many of the NFTs that customers can receive delivered to their doorstep, also citing anonymous sources. The report said shoppers will be able to “purchase a fashion-oriented NFT tied to a pair of jeans.”

In January, Amazon partnered with Ava Labs, the team behind the Avalanche Layer 1 blockchain, to offer AWS services to developers.

NFT Market Rebounds

The news comes as the NFT market is beginning to show signs of recovery.

NFTs witnessed explosive growth in 2021, with daily volume on OpenSea, the leading NFT marketplace, peaking at $185M in early January. But floor prices quickly evaporated for many collections when the 2022 bear market set in, with daily activity on OpenSea bottoming out below $4M last November.

However, $2B worth of NFTs changed hands during February, the highest monthly volume since last May, according to DappRadar. That figure marks a 117% month-over-month increase.

OpenSea facilitated $587M of trades, trailing behind upstart competitor, Blur, which hosted $1.3B as traders vied to increase their airdrops of BLUR tokens.

DappRadar also noted that OpenSea led Blur by unique wallets by 227%, with 317,000 traders using the platform last month.