Shopify’s president, Harley Finklestein, said on Twitter on July 26 that the business is now offering merchants limited support for selling non-fungible tokens (NFTs) directly on its platform.
According to the statement, Shopify merchants will no longer need to sell their NFTs through third-party markets and instead sell them directly through the Shopify platform. However, the new service is not open to everyone, according to Finklestein, who stated on Twitter that it is only offered to “a select few for the time being.” The president of Shopify went on to say:
“Before Shopify, retailers had to sell through a third-party platform, which meant they had less control over the transaction and customer connection. We’re putting the power back in the hands of merchants, allowing them to meet customers where and how they want to buy.”
The NBA’s Chicago Bulls are the first Shopify partner to create an NFT storefront on the platform, with an NFT “Legacy Collection” reflecting the franchise’s six world championship rings from 1991 to 1998. The tokens will be distributed over six days, with the first selling out on July 26, the second releasing later today, and the remaining four released over the following four days.
While the excitement surrounding such tokens has subsided, NFT transactions totaled more than $2.5 billion in the first quarter of 2021. NFTs look popular with venture capitalists, with prominent NFT marketplace OpenSea closing a $100 million Series B fundraising round last week, bringing the company’s worth to approximately $1.5 billion.
