With non-fungible tokens or NFTs generating commotion in the market, Coinbase, a prominent cryptocurrency exchange got in on the action. While mainstream platforms across the globe were making big purchases, the crypto exchange intended to launch an NFT marketplace.
Coinbase confirmed the upcoming marketplace’s opening back in October 2021. The platform provided no information on when it would be available. However, immediately following the announcement, it created a waitlist and shared it with the community. Now, the yet-to-be-launched app has amassed a remarkable 3.7 million waitlist signatures.
This interest in the upcoming marketplace has created quite a stir and is expected to dethrone existing NFT platforms such as OpenSea and LooksRare.
The latest data reveals how OpenSea did not garner even half of the interaction that Coinbase’s yet-to-be-launched NFT marketplace did in just a couple of months.
According to the above chart, OpenSea users that had engaged in at least one transaction were at 1,323,454 as of today. This was astoundingly lesser than Coinbase’s waitlist. Despite being the largest NFT marketplace, OpenSea could be taken down by Coinbase’s forthcoming platform.
Additionally, the crypto exchange partnered with payments giant, Mastercard. This will reportedly ease the process of buying NFTs which would be an added advantage for the firm.
Does Coinbase have an upper hand already?
OpenSea has been drowning in troubled waters. From hacks and attacks to lawsuits, the largest NFT platform has seen it all over the last couple of months. Earlier today, it was revealed that an OpenSea user slapped the platform with a $1 million lawsuit over stolen funds.
All of this has appeared to be concerning for OpenSea users. While this might not be the only cause but the daily volume of Ethereum and Polygon on the NFT platform has dropped dramatically since January.
Coinbase already has a significant footprint in the cryptocurrency sector. The inadequacies of OpenSea could further undermine its chances of dominating the NFT area in the future.