eBay acquired the NFT marketplace KnownOrigin

2 years ago

Big companies continue their push into the crypto world. This is good for the global adoption, but I have some concerns

One of the biggest online marketplaces — eBay — has acquired UK-based NFT trading platform KnownOrigin. The companies did not disclose details about the deal, and the amount paid is unknown.

KnownOrigin stated that their and eBay’s cultures are “similar” in being “fueled by a strong belief in connecting people and innovation.” Furthermore, in an announcement Twitter thread the NFT marketplace team assured that non-fungible tokens are becoming the future of the creative industry.

This gives KnownOrigin an opportunity to shape this future, according to the team. Their knowledge in the field, combined with eBay’s popularity and community of users, will help the NFT marketplace to “play a meaningful and lasting role in the evolution of this space.”

“We truly believe that this will help bring even more creators and collectors into the space, this will help us educate and inspire the next million creators,” KnownOrigin added.

We know little about the deal itself. The parties did not reveal all the details right away. The only thing about the negotiations between the two companies is this, and it gives virtually no information:

“During our meetings they impressed us with their enthusiasm to learn, embrace and immerse themselves into Web3.”

The other detail that is available to us is that the parties signed the deal on June 21. Which is again not much.

Even before the acquisition, eBay was showing an interest in the NFT space. For example, in the spring of 2021, the marketplace allowed users to trade their non-fungible tokens. Prior to this, the CEO and president of the company, Jamie Iannone, said that the platform is considering accepting payments in cryptocurrencies.

More recently, in May 2022, eBay launched a collection of non-fungible tokens in partnership with OneOf.

Source: KnownOrigin

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