Coinbase Preps Plans for NFT Marketplace Similar to Instagram in Q3 Report

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong offered some new details on Coinbase NFT in his Q3 address to investors on Tuesday.

New NFT Marketplace

Coinbase NFT will offer a social experience more akin to Instagram than eBay according to Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. Armstrong made the claims during the company’s third-quarter (Q3) investor call. The Coinbase CEO was in need of positive talking points following the company’s lower-than-projected earnings.

In the call Armstrong revealed that in Q3 Coinbase posted revenues of $1.31 billion, missing its $1.57 billion target by $260 million. This was down from a bumper Q2 in which revenue over the period was $2.23 billion. There were plenty of other things for Armstrong to talk about however, in particular, the NFT market for which details have previously been scant.

“Traditionally Coinbase is focused on FTs — fungible tokens — and we’re equally excited about NFTs,” said Armstrong, as initially reported by MarketWatch on November 9th. “I think it could be as big or bigger. We don’t know.”

One of the top items on Armstrong’s Coinbase NFT wishlist was that NFT interaction could be simplified.

”So just simple things like, how do you connect your wallet? You know, hopefully you don’t have to install a Chrome extension. And if your identity and your payment methods and everything are just already connected from your Gmail account, buying could be hopefully a one-click experience.”  

Coinbase will enter a highly competitive market that includes independent NFT marketplaces such as OpenSea, Rarible and NFTrade. As for other exchanges, Binance has already launched not one, but two NFT marketplaces already – Featured by Binance and Binance NFT.

Whatever Coinbase NFT comes up with it is unlikely to include BSC provisions. Coinbase has yet to integrate fungible BEP-20 tokens.

Coin Price

Following the investor update, the price of Coinbase ($COIN) stock took a hammering on the NASDAQ, falling from a high of $357.39 to $310. While the short-term price shock makes grim reading for investors, the medium to longer-term picture for the exchange remains bright.

Coinbase is currently exploring a number of new product lines. Besides Coinbase NFT the company is also pursuing ETFs, or exchange-traded funds. For the uninitiated, exchange-traded funds do exactly as described. They are funds that can be traded on an exchange and can track a single asset such as bitcoin, or can instead represent a portfolio of investments.

For example, the Roundhill Ball Metaverse ETF allows users to invest in a parcel of metaverse-related companies, while the ARK Innovation ETF provides exposure to a wide-ranging group of industry disruptors that include genomics, robotics, AI, and fintech. The latter fund is run by Cathie Wood who previously applied for a Bitcoin ETF prior to SEC approval for the rival ProShares Bitcoin ETF.

At the moment it is unclear the exact timetable for the rollout of any of these features, but should ETFs come to Coinbase, it could open up a whole new range of investment opportunities for retail crypto buyers.

And Finally

While Coinbase has been concerning itself with NFTs and ETFs, Coinbase cardholders have instead been focused on a different three-letter acronym – WTF? – after a wave of declined transactions left them in the lurch.

As one user put it, “F… Coinbase and their card system. Making me look like a broke idiot.”

As Coinbase sets their sights on a wave of new product offerings it’s a timely reminder that what customers often care about the most, is that companies get the basics right – especially when it comes to accessing their money.

Source : bsc.news