Shopify Adds NFT Support
Shopify has launched an NFT platform beta to their US Plus customers.
2021 was the year of the NFT, growing from $400M/month in sales at the start of the year to about $11B/month by year’s end. This incredible surge in transaction volume has led to a number of already-existing NFT marketplace giants, like OpenSea, cementing their place in the market. This growth has also opened the door to many newcomers . . . and they’re not who you’d expect. For months, rumors have circulated regarding GameStop’s new NFT marketplace built on Loopring (an Ethereum L2), and now Shopify has launched a beta NFT program for US customers.
Shopify is an ecommerce store builder with nearly 2 million individual stores built on the platform, and in 2020 it processed over $5B in sales. According to Shopify’s NFT launch page, their new offerings let you “Mint and sell your own branded NFTs with Shopify and Shopify Payments—right from your store.”
Shopify also lists a number of ways to make NFTs on the site more attractive to buyers. They call out 4 branded experiences that are integrated with their new platform: airdrops, tiered memberships via NFT purchases, content gating things like artwork, albums, tickets, merch, etc. based on NFT ownership, and certificates of authenticity for the NFTs they buy.
NFTs seem like a good fit for the company’s mission. NFTs largely have opened a market for small artists to derive income from their work and Shopify exists to support individuals who create a business. They’ve even described their work as “arming the rebels against Amazon.”
For now, the Spotify beta is open to US-based Plus merchants on the platform.