Gemini recently made a huge investment in the crypto-collectibles sector. This signals that the exchange, which was founded by the Winklevoss twins, believes in tokenized collectibles. Tyler Winklevoss, the CEO of the Gemini exchange, broke the news. He revealed that Gemini had purchased Nifty Gateway, which is a platform that makes it possible for users to trade their Ethereum-based non-fungible tokens.
Why They Chose Nifty Gateway
The twins noted that the main appeal of the platform was that it was compatible with some of the most popular crypto-based apps and games such as OpenSea, CryptoKitties, and Gods Unchained. Besides that, Nifty Gateway lets users purchase NFTs from DApps using their credit cards.
For now, the twins have no plans to make changes to the platform. Instead, the three employees working at Nifty Gateway will continue to operate independently under the Gemini ecosystem. However, the platform could later be more closely integrated into Gemini.
Gemini Believes in NFTs
This acquisition shows that the Gemini exchange believes in the potential that non-fungible tokens hold. It indicates they believe that NFTs have the potential to go mainstream. When commenting on the issue, Tyler Winklevoss suggested as much. He noted that NFTs and crypto-collectibles would play an important role in the future of the digital economy. Tyler said that could be the foundation for an industry worth billions of dollars.
Crypto Exchanges are expanding their Ecosystems
This acquisition is in line with what most major crypto exchanges have been doing. They are aiming to become closed ecosystems where users can access all services within the crypto world on one platform. For instance, some exchanges now allow users to create ICOs and even create tokens for their ICO using tools offered on the platform.
What are Non-Fungible Tokens?
Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, are tokens that represent a unique asset on a blockchain. Most NFTs today are based on the ERC721 standard and they run on the Ethereum blockchain. NFTs are different from fungible tokens such as ETH and BTC in that each token is unique. As such, they cannot be interchanged. The result is that they can be used as a collectible, in the art world, and for many other use cases. One of their most sort-after uses is in the gaming sector
In the real world, there are many unique collectible items such as a signed baseball cap, stamps, Pokémon cards, and many others. Online games also feature digital collectibles. These games allow gamers to trade items such as skins, weapons, and many other items. However, the main problem with in-game items is that they can only operate within a given game. NFTs could help to change all that. They could allow items to be traded outside the games in which they were created. Besides that, they are more secure. These items could help to create a multi-billion industry and give gamers more value and rights for their items. Most experts in the crypto world believe that NFTs will play a major role in the future of the digital economy.
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