Coinbase To Launch NFT Marketplace 'Soon'

Coinbase Global Inc’s COIN non fungible token (NFT) marketplace is likely to be launched in the near future, according to an update from the official Coinbase NFT Twitter account.

What Happened: “Wen Coinbase NFT? Soon,” tweeted the Coinbase NFT team on Tuesday.

The platform said it had recently met with more than 100 creators and has been incorporating community feedback in building the marketplace.

Why It Matters: The launch of Coinbase’s NFT marketplace is a widely anticipated event in the cryptocurrency space. Over 2 million people signed up for the Coinbase NFT waitlist only a few weeks after the cryptocurrency exchange announced plans to launch the platform.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said he expects the company’s NFT business to be on par with, or even bigger than its cryptocurrency business that allows users to trade Bitcoin BTC/USD, Ethereum ETH/USD, and Dogecoin DOGE/USD.

In January, Coinbase said it had partnered with payments giant Mastercard Inc MA to simplify the NFT purchase experience on the upcoming platform.

Coinbase’s largest competitor in the space will likely be OpenSea which is currently the largest decentralized marketplace for trading NFTs.

OpenSea recorded a 47% decline in transaction volume over the last 30 days, according to data from DappRadar. At the time of writing, the total amount of incoming value to OpenSea’s smart contracts stood at $2.02 billion.

Price Action: Coinbase shares traded 1.51% higher at a price of $155.5 during the after-market session.