With a forthcoming endeavor involving digital assets, Amazon apparently intends to dabble with NFTs and Web3 games. According to Blockworks, the world’s largest retailer plans to start a “digital assets enterprise” centered on non-fungible tokens and Web3 games this spring, citing four anonymous sources acquainted with Amazon’s plans. A Crypto NFT Market Entry by Amazon’s Gaming Initiative.
According to the article, Amazon’s program is still in its early phases, and the company plans to make an official announcement in April. Furthermore, the e-commerce behemoth has lined up more than a dozen project partners, including layer-1 blockchains, blockchain-based gaming businesses and developers, and digital asset exchanges.
“One example in the works, according to one source: persuading Amazon customers to play crypto games and collect free NFTs in the process,” the article stated, adding that Amazon executives in charge of the program have recently reached out to at least one family office. They were also rumored to be planning an NFT drop with an artist.
It’s worth mentioning that Amazon has been posting jobs for Web3 developers and engineers since 2021. Back then, the company advertised for a “Digital Currency and Blockchain Product Lead” with extensive knowledge of the digital, cryptocurrency environment.
Hopeful about the future of the Crypto NFT Market
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy told CNBC in April of last year that he is hopeful about the future of the Crypto NFT Market. At the time, he stated that the e-commerce giant was not considering accepting cryptocurrency payments, but that he “believes that over time, you’ll see crypto become bigger.”
“You know, I expect that NFTs will continue to develop quite rapidly,” Jassy said, adding that he might see Amazon selling NFTs in the future.
Recently, it was reported that Amazon, through AWS, has entered into a “cooperation” with Ava Labs in order to accelerate the adoption of blockchain technology across numerous businesses. To support Avalanche’s infrastructure and decentralized applications (DApps) ecosystem, AWS plans to offer one-click node deployments.
Aside from Amazon, several other prominent mainstream corporations have declared ambitions to grow into both NFTs and other cryptocurrencies in the last year.
A patent application in November disclosed Sony’s concept for a system that could trace the creation, use, and transfer of digital assets made within a game. A system for “generating, altering, tracking, authenticating, and/or transmitting unique digital assets” linked with video games is described in the patent.
Furthermore, with three new trademarks filed in December of last year, investing behemoth Fidelity hinted at an intention to expand further into cryptocurrencies and Web3. The filings are heavily focused on NFTs and virtual worlds such as the Metaverse.