Crypto Exchange Kraken NFT Marketplace Goes Live in Beta

One of the largest crypto exchanges Kraken has announced that its much anticipated Non-Fungible Token (NFT) marketplace is going live in beta. According to the report, the market would be made available to customers who joined the market’s waitlist in May.

A spokesperson of the company disclosed that this move was influenced by the decision to promote financial freedom and independence.

“We’re not in the business of timing markets, we’re in the business of accelerating financial freedom and independence,” he said.

The new marketplace is expected to host about 70 Ethereum and Solana-based NFT collections. Also, users would bear no extra cost to store their NFTs on the exchange.

According to a statement at the launch, the Kraken NFT marketplace “has been designed from the ground up to be the most secure and accessible marketplace in the non-fungible ecosystem.” The team has made royalties a mandatory component within the marketplace. It is important to note that these fees are meant to go back to the creators of collections on every NFT sale. On the other hand, NFT Traders see it as a source of friction.

“A portion of the value sold on our marketplace goes back to the original content creator. This ensures creators are always properly compensated for their time and efforts,” said a Kraken spokesperson.

To be able to compete well in the industry, Kraken has integrated features to enable customers to list or offer NFTs in eight fiat currencies. This is in addition to listing items in over 200 cryptocurrencies on the platform. Most importantly, users have the option of taking advantage of the protection of Kraken’s security framework to view and buy NFTs listed on other marketplaces.

This huge step follows similar moves by competitors including Coinbase, FTX, and Binance to launch their NFT marketplaces. However, the market has been under severe pullback causing a drastic drop in trading volume since their launch in 2021.

Kraken would face huge competition from OpenSea, the largest NFT marketplace by trading volume. LooksRare is another heavyweight in the industry after recording some interesting growth in the past week. Kraken is expected to differentiate itself from the other marketplaces by integrating tools to enable newbies to evaluate the worth of their NFTs.

“By leveraging the same battle-tested infrastructure that has kept our client’s crypto assets secure for the past 11 years, Kraken NFT provides the bedrock people need to engage with the NFT space with confidence,” said the company.