E-commerce giant eBay has acquired KnownOrigin. This is a marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFT) with which the e-commerce company wants to push even further into the world of blockchain technology and digital collectibles.
According to a press release on Wednesday, the company KnownOrigin from Manchester was bought for an undisclosed sum. Artists and collectors can create NFTs through the company and buy and resell through blockchain transactions. David Moore, co-founder of KnownOrigin, said in a statement that the company was founded to “give content creators and collectors the opportunity to present, sell and collect unique, authenticated digital objects”. In addition, it was said of him:
“As interest in NFTs continues to grow, we believe that now is the perfect time for us to work with a company like eBay, which has a wide reach and a lot of experience.”
Since May last year, users have been able to buy and sell NFTs on eBay. At that time, the increasing interest in digital collectibles led to sharp price increases. In May, the e-commerce giant announced its first NFT collection as part of a collaboration with the environmentally friendly NFT platform OneOf. eBay CEO Jamie Iannone commented further:
“KnownOrigin has built an impressive, passionate and loyal group of artists and collectors and is therefore a perfect addition to our community of sellers and buyers. We are pleased to welcome these innovators to the eBay community.”
With this step, eBay signals that the online auction house is still interested in using cryptocurrency and blockchain technology to improve its business operations. eBay is one of the first e-commerce websites and now wants to become the contact point for Generation Z and Illennials. Earlier this year, Cointelegraph reported that the company has been looking to integrate crypto payments for quite some time.
In this context: Confirmed: Online auction house eBay allows NFT sales
In recent months, hundreds of NFT projects have appeared, which also sell digital works of art for millions. The use of NFTs in an established market such as eBay with around 187 million active buyers could prolong the hype a little more.
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