eBay Becomes First E-commerce Company To Embrace NFT Sales On Its Platform

E-commerce giant e-Bay Inc EBAY jumped on the NFT bandwagon, allowing the sale of non-fungible tokens for digital collectibles on its platform for the first time, according to a report from Reuters.

What Happened: In the short term, its NFT inventory will be provided by sellers that “meet eBay’s standards,” and users can expect to see programs, policies, and tools in the future that will let them buy and sell NFTs across a broader range of categories.

"In the coming months, eBay will add new capabilities that bring blockchain-driven collectibles to our platform," said Jordan Sweetnam, senior vice president and general manager for eBay's North America market.

Why It Matters: Earlier this month, eBay said it was open to the possibility of accepting cryptocurrency as payment on its platform and was exploring ways to bring NFTs to eBay.

See also: EBay Looking Into NFT Marketplace: How The Auction Site Could Gain More Monetizable Users

The announcement came after the company’s second-quarter profit forecast came in below market expectations as it faced increased competition from rivals like Amazon.com Inc AMZN and Shopify Inc SHOP.

After today, eBay is officially the first e-commerce company to get in on the NFT trend by enabling users to purchase digital collectibles on its platform.

“Everything that’s collectible has been on eBay for decades and will continue to be for the next few decades,” said Chief Executive Officer Jamie Iannone.

Price Action: eBay shares ended Wednesday’s session 1.64% lower at $60.43. Year to date, the stock is up 17.33%.