When the rest of the world is looking to cut losses from speculative digital assets, eBay isn’t bothered. The San Jose, California-based e-commerce company has just acquired the KnownOrigin NFT (Non-Fungible Token) marketplace.
KnownOrigin is built on the Ethereum blockchain, and describes itself as “one of the world’s first, and largest, NFT Marketplaces.”
“eBay is the first stop for people across the globe who are searching for that perfect, hard-to-find, or unique addition to their collection and, with this acquisition, we will remain a leading site as our community is increasingly adding digital collectibles,” said Jamie Iannone, CEO of eBay. “KnownOrigin has built up an impressive, passionate and loyal group of artists and collectors making them a perfect addition to our community of sellers and buyers. We look forward to welcoming these innovators as they join the eBay community.”
1/7 The mission was simple: could we build a new platform that would empower creators and give digital artists a chance to earn a living doing what they love. pic.twitter.com/X5zCkJHj1B
— KnownOrigin.io (@KnownOrigin_io) June 22, 2022
This isn’t eBay testing the waters. The e-commerce company began allowing the buying and selling of NFTs back in May 2021, however, with the acquisition of KnownOrigin, eBay gets access to a marketplace that was exclusively built for trading NFTs, which ranks at #12 on all-time trading volume for Ethereum-backed NFTs at $7.8 million, as seen on DappRadar. OpeanSea leads the marketplace race, with $30.45 billion in all-time trading volume.
“We founded KnownOrigin to empower creators and collectors by giving them the ability to showcase, sell, and collect unique, authenticated digital items,” said David Moore, co-founder, KnownOrigin. “As interest in NFTs continues to grow, we believe now is the perfect time for us to partner with a company that has the reach and experience of eBay. With more than twenty-five years building similar communities of passionate individuals, we are excited by the opportunity to bring a whole new audience on this journey. This is the start of a new chapter in the KnownOrigin story and we couldn’t choose a better time to focus on building and innovating with the team at eBay. This partnership will help us attract a new wave of NFT creators and collectors.”
The company did not disclose the acquisition deal value, however, it confirmed that the deal was signed and closed as of June 21st, 2022.
Image credit: KnownOrigin
Source: eBay
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