- The NFT collection includes 3D renderings of Canadian hockey legend Wayne Gretzky.
- EBay plans to use the OneOf NFT platform to bring Web3 to its technology rails.
eBay is looking to be part of the world of NFTs (non-fungible tokens, according to its acronym in English). This, despite the decline in interest in these assets that is observed globally, given the decline in sales and the recent fall in the cryptocurrency market.
eBay’s “Genesys” non-fungible token collection features 3D animations featuring the actions of iconic athletes captured through the covers of Sports Illustrated sports magazine over the years, according to a Monday press release.
The e-commerce giant has partnered with OneOf, an NFT platform that supports its non-fungible tokens across multiple blockchains. On this occasion, the Polygon blockchain was chosen.
The first NFT collection to be released sees Canadian hockey legend Wayne Gretzky pulling off signature and memorable moves from his sporting activity. Includes thirteen “limited edition” digital collectibles designed with a tier-based system, containing 299 NFTs. These are separated for sale by levels: green, gold, platinum and diamond.
According to eBay, during the rest of the year , additional collectibles will be released to the NFT series of sports legends in OneOf, reusing other iconic Sports Illustrated covers , as mentioned by both companies.
eBay’s addition to the NFT market came after one of its rivals, Amazon, along with its CEO Andy Jassy, told CNBC last month that they envisioned a “possible” future in which the platform would sell NFT.
Decline in sales in the NFT market
Taking into account the great interest that exists in online sales, it is important to note that the activity in the NFT market has fallen along with the cryptocurrency market.
According to NonFungible’s Q1 2022 NFT Quarterly Report, the sales volume, trade volume, and total number of active addresses of digital collectibles is on a steady decline from the peak achieved in January.
The total number of sales as of May 15 was around 25,518 , the data shows. Since then, the market has shrunk to around 23,117 sales , according to the latest weekly figures. Last September, the weekly average stood at 225,000 individual sales .
A drop of this magnitude can be attributed to many NFT holders realizing that their anticipated returns from secondary market sales are not working out as expected.
However, both OneOf and eBay are sticking with their recent partnership . In his opinion, this market will reach the “100 million non-native mass consumers of cryptocurrencies.” On this, the CEO of eBay’s NFT platform, Lin Dai, said:
NFTs and blockchain technology are revolutionizing the collectibles space and are increasingly seen as an investment opportunity for enthusiasts. Dawn Block, eBay’s vice president of collectibles, electronics and home.