The news that Amazon is about to launch the NFT market has recently sparked a lot of controversy in the market. According to sources close to the subject, Amazon will launch its NFT platform on April 24. How will Amazon’s entry into NFT, which has more than 300 million users worldwide, affect the entire market? Is this a sign that Web3 will finally kick off mass adoption?
Amazon’s path to Web3
This decision by Amazon is not a whim, they started unleashing interest in crypto and Web3 from 2021 onwards. According to a Blockchain product lead job posting, on June 8, 2021, Amazon is seeking employees with DeFi-related work experience. A month later, Amazon re-released its hiring information, seeking a digital currency and Blockchain product director who would be responsible for developing Amazon’s digital currency and Blockchain strategy and planning a product roadmap to ‘bring the company’s payment system into the era of encryption’.
On July 26, 2021, London business newspaper CityAM reported that Amazon plans to accept Bitcoin payments by the end of 2021, according to Amazon internal sources. However, an Amazon spokesperson soon announced to the public that they do not plan to accept Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies as payment methods.
Perhaps feeling the impact of the event that debunked this rumor, Amazon has tightened its stance on Web3. This made his views on NFT and crypto publicly ambiguous. By April 14, 2022, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy finally said in an interview with CNBC financial program Squawk Box that individuals do not own Bitcoin and that Amazon will not add cryptocurrencies as a payment method, but may sell NFT in the future. The CEO’s statement caused the crypto community to start looking forward to what stance Amazon will take to Web3. Encryption players often debate which project could become the Amazon of Web3. But who knew this wait was a year.
Amazon NFT marketplace will not be on AWS!
As we reported as Kriptokoin.com, Amazon will launch its NFT platform on April 24, 2023, according to sources close to the subject. At that time, users will not need to remember the new domain name and will be able to jump to the ‘Amazon Digital Marketplace’ page on Amazon’s official website. About 15 NFT series will be released for users to choose from. Bored Ape Yacht Club, Otherdeed for Otherside, Azuki, Moonbirds and DeGods are the most well-known NFT collections in the market.
When we think of Amazon and Web3, we usually think of AWS, which has a monopoly on Blockchain infrastructure. However, Amazon’s own NFT marketplace will run on Amazon’s local servers, not AWS. Sources say that the NFTs that Amazon will launch, in particular, will be linked to physical objects and users will have the opportunity to purchase NFTs for home delivery. Amazon’s vision is not limited to NFT. Another focus of Amazon at this stage is Blockchain games and it is still trying to invest in Layer1 Blockchain game developers and cryptocurrency trading platforms. Axie Infininty, Alien Worlds, Decentraland, Sandbox and ApeCoin stand out as the most well-known game coins on the market.
What does the community think of Amazon’s entry into NFT?
Regarding the upcoming Amazon NFT market, the attitude of the NFT community is generally optimistic. Because the Amazon NFT marketplace can generate a huge increase in the number of users coming to the NFT circle. PROOF Research Director NFTstatistics.eth stated in a podcast that the current number of independent NFT buyers on the ETH mainnet is only around 20,000 per day. Meanwhile, Amazon has more than 310 million users worldwide. As Waleswoosh said, even if only 1% of Amazon users are interested in the Amazon NFT market, ETH will bring new consumers to NFT several times or even dozens of times.
Amazon to bridge Web2 user base to Web3
Amazon’s credit approval allows Web2 users to be wary of NFT. Today, Web2 users are not unaware of NFT. However, they do not ‘trust’ NFT more. What can a picture be worth to them? Isn’t it really a hype? A strong affirmation of trust not only draws more people to understand what NFT is and makes them let their guard down, it can also remove that ‘distrust’.
Amazon’s products are more suited to Web2 user habits. It has a UI design that is closer to the habits of Web2 users. Sources say Amazon’s NFT marketplace will offer digital products tied to real-life products. For example, a new jacket can be linked to an NFT verifying ownership, giving the jacket additional benefit on the Metaverse. The most known metaverse coins in the market are ApeCoin, Internet Copmputer, Decentraland, Sandbox and Stacks.
Also, another focus of Amazon at this stage is Blockchain games, which can be more widely considered as gaming assets on the Blockchain. In any case, it’s reasonable to expect the Amazon NFT marketplace to focus on the universal consumption scene to attract more Web2 users. The probability of establishing a ‘BAYC-like NFT assets trading’ market alone is slim.
Of course, there are some voices who are not optimistic or even boycott Amazon’s NFT market. The biggest doubt is that the Amazon NFT market could be pretty closed and the goal is simply to create a ‘private Blockchain’ like a ‘high-walled garden’ that does not generate any value inflows into ETH. In addition, based on the failure of Coinbase NFT, some people are pessimistic about the development prospects of the Amazon NFT market. He also believes it may be ‘unacceptable’ for Web2 companies as they expand their Web3 business. Centralization issues such as private key escrow also worry some Web3 users.
What will the Amazon NFT market bring?
The entry of giants always excites NFT’s ‘little circle’. Because we’re really hungry for ‘fresh blood’. So what if it’s Starbucks last time, Amazon this time, even if they’re more closed or don’t add much direct value to the Web3 world in the short run? What matters is that NFT needs to be understood more broadly and deeply or quietly become a part of everyday life.
Giants are likely to redefine the value logic of NFT. After all, NFT is just a technology. In the past, it was expensive because it took on the overflowing liquidity, and it was expensive because there are so many possible applications for this technology. And now we may be getting closer to the ‘realization’ of NFT. What exactly can NFT do to make life more comfortable and interesting? There will come a day when we will not say ‘I am an NFT player’. Currently, there are many details of the Amazon NFT market that have not yet been disclosed. Whether Amazon will be as depressing as Coinbase NFT or rewrite the model of the NFT market, only time will tell.
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