Amazon may soon become the latest Fortune 500 company to venture into NFTs. As reported today by Blockworks, the e-commerce giant is planning to launch a “digital assets enterprise” via an NFT initiative this spring. According to one anonymous source the publication spoke with, the company’s focus will center on blockchain-based gaming that rewards players with NFTs.
According to the report, the platform will allegedly be run out of Amazon itself vs. Amazon Web Services (AWS), but it still isn’t clear who is leading the charge in terms of personnel.
This news comes on the heels of AWS’ recent partnership with Ava Labs, the company behind the Avalanche blockchain.
Ultimately, this move isn’t a huge surprise. In a Squawkbox interview on CNBC, Andy Jassy, the CEO of Amazon, previously stated that he believed that the company would sell NFTs one day. “I expect that NFTs will continue to grow very significantly. We’re not probably close to adding crypto as a payment mechanism in our retail business, but I do believe over time that you’ll see crypto become bigger,” he said. When asked whether he could see Amazon selling NFTs, Jessy replied, “Yeah, I think it’s down the road.”
This latest plan seems likely to be a new evolution of previously rumored efforts for Amazon to collaborate with established Web3-native artists. Previously, Amazon had become involved in the NFT space through a series called NFTMe, which explores NFT culture and disruption worldwide.
While little is known about Amazon’s forthcoming foray into NFTs apart from what anonymous sources relayed to Blockworks, the company will likely share more information with the public over the coming months, as, according to the report, April seems to be the tentative release date for these current endeavors. Whether or not Amazon will embrace strides already being made in blockchain gaming or examples already set by other high-profile brands, or seek to introduce platforms and mechanics will surely help define their success on the blockchain.
This story is developing and will be updated.