By
Chimamanda U. Martha
April 22nd, 2024
Z Holdings’ decision to enter the NFT market came after Japanese online retail giant Rakuten launched its NFT marketplace.
Tokyo-based company controlled by SoftBank Group (TYO: 9984), Z Holdings Corporation is debuting into the non-fungible token (NFT) market. According to board director Kentaro Kawabe, Z Holdings is launching an NFT marketplace, which will be called “NFT Mall.” The company is making a strong entrance into the NFT space, with plans to launch its NFT Mall in 180 countries before the end of the year. The company is leveraging a five-year financial plan of about $4.3 billion in a bid to develop itself.
Z Holdings will be fulfilling its global expansion goals with the new NFT Mall. The company is also increasing the number of PayPay users to 90 million as part of its expansion goals. The holding company’s move towards NFT comes amid the growing adoption of non-fungible tokens globally. Moving on with its plans, Z Holdings will collaborate with Metaverse, Web3, and NFT sponsors. Kawabe said in an interview that Web3 is capable of changing the whole world, and Z Holdings would not want to miss out on the evolution.
“Web 3.0 has the potential to lead a world that offers a completely different life. We will not miss this huge opportunity for growth.”
He added that the company is open to acquisitions, mergers, and other forms of partnerships to enhance its presence in the NFT industry.
Z Holdings Explore NFT Market
Z Holdings’ decision to enter the NFT market came after Japanese online retail giant Rakuten launched its NFT marketplace. In the press announcement, Rakuten said its NFT service offers a marketplace for buying NFTs, P2P buying, and selling of NFTs in different areas. IP holders can also build their websites to sell NFTs with the new service.
With Z Holdings NFT Mall in town, fingers are crossed on how the holdings company plans to compete with existing platforms. Other popular and established players in the field include OpenSea, Coinbase, Rarible, and FTX.
NFT gained much attention last year as many people got interested in the new trend. Also, it became a trending topic, and many celebrities, including athletes and artists, debuted in the space. NFTs became one of the most searched topics in 2021. NFTs transactions spiked more than 20,000% from 2020, topping $17 billion last year. Additionally, sales of digital assets reached $17.6 billion last year. Research by Nonfugible.com revealed that more than 2.5 million crypto wallets traded NFTs in 2021. As NFTs continue to attract investors globally, sales crossed the $1 billion mark in January 2022.
However, the co-founder of Nonfungible.com, Gauthier Zuppinger, believes that the buzz around NFTs does not necessarily mean a sustained trend.
“What is interesting is that we are seeing fewer people, fewer buyers, fewer sales. The global community may have decreased because of speculation and a loss of interest in collectibles. But the global market is still really high and the value of some of these assets has continued to increase,” said he.