The launch of Coinbase's own NFT marketplace, which launched on Wednesday, is a sign of confidence in the niche digital asset even as the market is cooling down.
The platform, announced in October, will initially be available for a "small number" of people in the U.S., a Coinbase spokesperson said. More users are to be added from a waiting list over the next three to five weeks as the platform is still being tested.
Opensea, the most popular NFT marketplace, NFT sales on the Ethereum blockchain halved to around $2.5 billion in March, from $5 billion in January.
"We believe NFTs are here to stay," a Coinbase spokesperson said. "Beyond buying and selling NFTs, our marketplace offers better ways to find the right communities and better spaces in which they can feel connected with each other."
Coinbase said it will allow copyrighted or fraudulent content to be reported. Coinbase will add the ability to create NFTs to the Coinbase NFT platform in the future, the spokesperson said.