One month after launching the ‘Genesis’ Collection, eBay purchases the ‘KnownOrigin’ NFT Marketplace.
The 26-year-old e-commerce company has been working hard to establish itself as a major brand in the NFT space.
KnownOrigin, a Manchester-based NFT marketplace, has been bought by eBay, a US-based online e-commerce behemoth. The amount of money invested in this transaction has not been disclosed. The three co-founders of KnownOrigin, Andy Gray, David Moore, and James Morgan, will join the eBay team as part of this transaction. The agreement was finalized on June 21. eBay made the announcement in an official blog post. It was also stated that the whole KnownOrigin team has been integrated into the eBay team.
The 26-year-old e-commerce company has been working hard to establish itself as a major brand in the NFT space.
“eBay is the first destination for individuals all over the world looking for that ideal, hard-to-find, or one-of-a-kind addition to their collection, and with this purchase, we will remain a leading site as our community progressively adds digital treasures,” eBay CEO Jamie Iannone said in a blog post.
KnownOrigin, founded in 2018, enables NFT artists and collectors to create, buy, and resell non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
“As interest in NFTs grows, we feel now is the ideal moment to engage with a corporation with the reach and experience of eBay.” This marks the beginning of a new chapter in the KnownOrigin saga. This collaboration will help us attract a new generation of NFT artists and collectors,” said David Moore, co-founder of KnownOrigin, in a statement.
Earlier this month, eBay launched its first NFT collection, dubbed ‘Genesis.’ It depicts Canadian hockey icon Wayne Gretzky in 3D and animation. NFT replicas of other athletes who have graced the pages of Sports Illustrated magazine throughout the years have also been featured for sale.
According to industry tracker DappRadar, sales of NFTs topped $25 billion (approximately Rs. 1,84,700 crore) in 2021 as the speculative crypto asset skyrocketed in popularity.
Until recently, OpenSea was the lone dominant brand in the NFT market, but new brands have emerged in recent months.
Salesforce, a software business located in the United States, unveiled its NFT platform, dubbed ‘NFT Cloud,’ earlier this month.
Within three days after its opening in January, the newly created LooksRare marketplace had generated a sales volume of $394 million (approximately Rs. 2,912 crore).