Video game retailer now asks NFT creators to come forward
Video game retailer GameStop has become the latest to jump into NFTs, as the company is preparing to launch its own NFT marketplace on the Ethereum blockchain. On the official website the company is now reaching out to NFT creators to have them register as a creator on the GameStop NFT Marketplace.
GameStop has a background in the video game industry as a retailer, but it’s unclear whether the NFT marketplace will tap into the growing blockchain gaming segment. In May this year GameStop first revealed their plans for an NFT marketplace and a token. They registered GME on the Ethereum blockchain, but didn’t issue any tokens yet.
GameStop’s entry in the blockchain space is quite poetic to say the least. In early 2021 retail investors grouped up to pump the GME stock to great heights, causing institutional investors to lose millions after shorting and manipulating the stock price for years. The event hit mainstream media and made the Reddit group WallStreetBets become a notorious name in the crypto space.
GameStop and Loopring rumors
Last week rumors popped up of GameStop working with LoopRing, an Ethereum layer-2 solution and decentralized exchange. The wallet associated with GameStop also holds some LRC tokens. The partnership between GameStop and LoopRing has not been confirmed yet, but job listings and source code on Github suggest that there’s some truth behind the rumors.
It’s not weird to see GameStop expanding its horizon to the NFT space. In 2021 NFTs have been a hot commodity with $23 billion in trading volume. In the past 30 days the leading NFT marketplace OpenSea has seen $2,4 billion in NFT trading happening on their platform, solidifying its position. The Axie Infinity Marketplace, Magic Eden on the Solana blockchain, and BloctoBay on Flow all follow and have seen tremendous growth this year.