Coinbase NFT Marketplace Launches in Beta, Plans to Move Beyond Ethereum

Coinbase NFT, a new non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace by crypto exchange Coinbase, launched in beta on Wednesday.

The exchange also said it plans to decentralize this marketplace by “moving [features] from Coinbase tech to decentralized solutions,” while adding support for NFTs on other blockchains than Ethereum (ETH).

Meanwhile, beta testers will be able to create a profile on Coinbase NFT and start buying and selling NFTs, the company said in a blog post. It added that the platform has been built as an open marketplace where users can trade NFTs using their own non-custodial wallets such as MetaMask, without having to use the Coinbase Wallet.

For a limited time period, Coinbase transaction fees are waived, the post further said, adding that fees “in-line with Web3 industry standards” will be added later.

The new NFT marketplace incorporates several aspects of social media into the trading experience, with an aim to make it intuitive and easy to use for everyone.

According to Coinbase, the marketplace allows users to have a personal profile and follow the accounts of others, similar to how social media networks like Instagram works. The platform will also have content feeds customized for each user where NFT traders can up- and downvote other people’s posts and comments.

“We’re starting with a small set of beta testers who’ll be invited based on their position on our waitlist. We’ll start at the top of the waitlist and open access to more people over time,” the blog post said.

Coinbase said it will add more features “in the coming weeks and months.” The plans include adding support for NFT drops, minting, token-gated communities, as well as an option to buy NFTs directly with a credit card or a Coinbase account.

Wednesday’s beta launch marks the company’s latest step into the world of digital art, a journey that started when more than 1 million users signed up on a waitlist to join the platform in a single day in October last year.

Commenting on the massive interest at the time, the American entrepreneur Nate Roth said “Coinbase's [NFT] waitlist is already larger than OpenSea's wallets.”