eBay Dropped The Sports-Themed NFT Collection: Report

eBay dropped the sports-themed NFT collection which marked the platform’s first tryst with NFTs so let’s read more today in our latest cryptocurrency news today.

The e-commerce company eBay dropped the sports-themed NFT collection that was supposed to be a partnership with OneOf, a web3 company. The NFT collection of 13 limited-edition digital collectibles named “Gensis” will have four tiers: green, gold, platinum, and diamond. It will feature 3D animated interpretations of the athlete featured on the Sports Illustrated covers over the years. The first ones will feature the hockey legend Wayne Gretzky who said:

“Forty years ago, I was grateful to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated, it was a monumental moment in my life. I’m honored to bring this collectible experience to my hockey fans who have followed my career for decades.”

The company said that each NFT is priced for the everyday fan and will start at $10 each. Dawn Block, the Vice President of electronics, collectibles, and more, underscored that NFTs and blockchain technology are changing the collectibles space and are seen as an investment opportunity for most players. The executive added:

“Through our partnership with OneOf, eBay is now making coveted NFTs more accessible to a new generation of collectors everywhere. This builds upon our commitment to deliver high passion, high-value items to the eBay community of buyers and sellers.”

eBay has 142 million buyers worldwide and it is the second biggest player in the US that trailing behind the giant, Amazon. The CEO Jamie Iannone also said the company will integrate crypto payments as it aims to touch the GenZ and millennial audiences. eBay enabled the sale of NFTs as well as digital collectibles like images, videos, or trading cards in 2021.

The CEO of eBay, Jamie Iannone started considering the idea of adding crypto payment options for the site for a while but then stopped short of announcing any moves during its 2022 investor’s day. Iannone reiterated that the company is exploring new forms of payments to add while the platform did present a slide of a digital wallet due in the second quarter.

Ebay could launch digital wallet features which are a software program that holds payment information and some like Apple Pay and Google Pay are meant for credit and debit cards so rather than pulling out a physical wallet, users can pay by tapping a phone at the point of sale. Digital wallets can also store private keys that will enable people to pay in BTC or other cryptos and recently, other crypto wallets expanded their functionality to allow people to see and trade their NFTs like unique tokens which act as a digital deed of ownership to other assets.