Coinbase launches beta of long-awaited NFT marketplace

Crypto exchange Coinbase has launched its long-awaited NFT marketplace in beta form after the exchange first announced plans for it in October. It is currently available for select customers and supports only Ethereum-based NFTs and payments in ETH. In the future, Coinbase will also add drops, minting, token-gated communities, and the option to buy NFTs with a Coinbase account or a credit card.

The beta NFT marketplace is accessible to everyone to view from today, but initially, only select users will be able to buy or sell.

“Coinbase will be onboarding a small number of users into the beta for Coinbase NFT,” Vice-President of product at Coinbase Sanchan Saxena told The Block.

Coinbase opened a waitlist for the marketplace in October, winning more than 1.5 million sign-ups. Only some customers will initially be able to use the beta marketplace, based on their position on that waitlist, Coinbase revealed.

Beta testers will be able to create a profile on the marketplace to buy and sell NFTs. They can use any self-custody wallet, including Coinbase Wallet and MetaMask. Coinbase won’t charge transaction fees for a limited time, the exchange said, adding that it will eventually add fees in line with industry norms.

Coinbase NFT for now only supports Ethereum-based NFTs and payments in ether. Saxena said the marketplace will integrate other blockchains in the future, and “full fiat on-ramps will be coming soon.”

As for gas fees, Coinbase said it has partnered with 0x Protocol to optimize transactions for lower costs.

Coinbase will also allow users to purchase NFTs via credit cards, as it announced earlier this year. At the time, the company partnered with Mastercard to let users buy NFTs by card.

Coinbase will also be focusing on building a solid NFT community on the marketplace itself by allowing commenting under collections and creating a conversation through which creators and collectors can interact.

Going forward, Coinbase NFT will also be adding drops, minting, token-gated communities, and the option to buy NFTs with a Coinbase account. And the marketplace will be adding support for other blockchains as well, eventually decentralizing the entire platform.

Currently, more than 8.4 million email addresses were on the waitlist for Coinbase NFT. The crypto exchange reported more than 89 million verified users trading $547 billion in quarterly volume, should the exchange’s liquidity extend to its NFT venture.

Coinbase is one of a few crypto exchanges attempting to get in on NFT sales. Major crypto exchange Binance launched an NFT marketplace in June 2021 aimed at minimizing transaction cost, and FTX and its US arm introduced a marketplace in September, allowing users to trade NFTs cross-chain on the Solana and Ethereum blockchains.