Despite the ongoing war conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which put immense stress on the global financial markets, companies around the globe are continuing the crypto adoption.
One of the largest Japanese electronic commerce and online retail company, Rakuten, announced the launch of a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace. The “Rakuten NFT” marketplace is the latest addition to Rakuten’s crypto efforts, which started in 2019 with the launch of a crypto exchange, while in 2021 Rakuten allowed customers to load crypto into Rakuten Pay accounts.
The rapid expansion of NFTs pushed many companies to delve into the newly emerging sector.
“Rakuten NFT is a service that provides a marketplace for users to purchase NFTs, as well as peer-to-peer buying and selling of NFTs, in a range of areas such as sports and entertainment, including music and anime,” Rakuten noted, adding that the e-commerce giant would also feature a unique, one-stop platform which enables IP holders to build their own website for issuing and selling NFTs.
Rakuten joins other big companies who entered the NFT game, like Coinbase, FTX, Crypto.com, and many others. However, the Japanese electronic commerce and online retail company, Rakuten, has to overcome fierce competition in the face of marketplaces like Opensea, Rarible, Looksrare, and Magic Eden.
The first NFTs the new Rakuten marketplace saw deployed, were the NFTs showcasing Ultraman anime and Kurogane Hiroshi G1 Gekitoshi with work illustrated by the renowned manga artist Hiroshi Kurogane. The company scheduled NFT drops in the form of collectibles from TV Asahi Corporation shows, Under Beasty from Daiki Sound Co., and NFTs featuring characters from Tiger & Bunny 2.
“Rakuten NFT is also planning to produce and sell the J.League NFT Collection Players Anthem, the J.League official NFT collection,” Rakuten concluded.
Other big players join the crypto space
Rakuten’s announcement may be a piece of big news for the sector, but eBay is planning a move that may drastically change the way crypto users interact with the platform, as one of the biggest online retail companies is “opening up to new forms of payment”, cryptocurrencies included.
During an interview, eBay’s CEO Jamie Iannone stressed that the e-commerce platform wants to be the marketplace for Gen Z and Millennials. However, no big retail entity has taken the leap towards cryptocurrencies, which may put eBay on the top of the list of crypto-based conversations.
“We're now managing $85 billion of volume on our platform directly, which gives us the ability to open up new forms of payment”, Iannone noted.
Ebay’s CEO also noted that the marketplace collaborated with Afterpay in Australia, which is a platform that appeals to Gen Z users, due to its “buy now pay later” business model.
Iannone also added that the possible announcement date for crypto payments on eBay is March 10, when the e-commerce giant is going to have a day dedicated investor day when the company is going to delve deeper into payments, advertising, and its focus categories.
Meanwhile, Iannone also expressed that despite eBay not considering going into NFTs at this moment, some users started trading them.
"So even without announcing anything or doing anything, people started trading NFT on a platform," adding that eBay will be “the place where people trade goods, whether they be physical or digital. So over time, you know, we want this to be the marketplace for sustainability."