New Limited Beta Version Of NFT Marketplace Launched By Coinbase

Coinbase recently announced that its NFT marketplace has now entered the beta phase and is open to a limited number of beta testers who will be admitted based on their position on the queue. The exchange plans to compete with major players in the field by including social elements such as a comment system (complete with downvotes and upvotes) as well as an algorithmic feed.

This development will go a long way towards further establishing Coinbase as one of the top crypto platforms in the world and will simultaneously help increase mainstream adoption of NFTs as well.

What can we expect?

The screenshots included in Coinbases blog post resemble a mix between Instagram and OpenSea, which is among the biggest NFT marketplaces in the world. In fact, there are profiles where individuals can display their collections which others can also follow, along with a Discover feed that Coinbase claims will propose NFTs to users based on what they purchase, whats popular, who they follow, and various other factors.

Moreover, favoriting NFTs is likewise supported by the marketplace, as it is by OpenSea and numerous other markets. There is also a Shop page where beta testers may buy NFTs. Presently, only the Ethereum blockchain is supported by the marketplace, and beta users can connect via a wallet such as Coinbases own wallet or MetaMask. Furthermore, although the platform claims that Coinbase NFT would eventually accept Mastercard, only ETH is being utilized for pricing at the moment.

A little late to the party?

Most would agree that Coinbase is a prominent participant in the crypto exchange market and plays a vital role in this sector, however some would nevertheless argue that the platform is entering the NFT space a little late. Currently, the market is displaying symptoms of weakness as both trading volume and the amount of traders on the biggest marketplaces have uniformly declined in the last month, according to DappRadars NFT marketplace tracker.

As a matter of fact, even OpenSea recently experienced about 67% fewer deals and 23% fewer traders than it had in March. Additionally, whereas search interest in non-fungible tokens increased between October 2021 and January 2022, it has subsequently returned to normal levels by now.

Still, better late than never for Coinbase as NFTs continue to rise in popularity and usage with little signs of slowing down, although the platform also has its hands full with a class-action lawsuit as well.