eBay officially acquired the NFT marketplace KnownOrgin for an undisclosed amount earlier this week. The news came from the official announcement released on Twitter by the KnownOrigin team. The e-commerce giant continues to push its way into the web3 space following launching its first-ever NFT collection with OneOf last month.
KnownOrgin is an innovative NFT marketplace founded in 2018 by a group of three innovative people, Andy Gray, David Moore, and James Morgan. Fast forward to 2022, the team has grown significantly and has facilitated a trading volume of more than $7.8 million since its launch. And what’s more, the KnownOrgin team raised 3.5 million pounds in a Series A seed round led by GBV and Sanctor Capital.
Now, the team is getting ready to move up to the next level, thanks to the acquisition deal between KnownOrgin and eBay on Wednesday. Reportedly, the bid from the e-commerce giant included both the platform and the team, meaning there will not be much change in the governance of the NFT marketplace.
The official tweet from the NFT market stated that eBay’s 25-year experience building a community of passionate buyers and sellers would be key to their roadmap for the future. They hope to get even more creators and collectors on board this exciting journey to inspire millions of people.
KnownOrgin co-founder expressed his delight in the new deal and said, “As interest in NFTs continues to grow, we believe now is the perfect time for us to partner with a company that has the reach and experience of eBay.”
Despite significant influence over e-commerce, eBay is still new to the web3 space. Their decision to acquire KnownOrgin will be a great addition to the company as they move forward with their plans for this emerging market. Moreover, many out there consider this move a sign of eBay getting serious about NFTs and the market for them.
In a statement regarding the acquisition, eBay CEO Jamie Iannone said, “eBay is the first stop for people across the globe who are searching for that perfect, hard-to-find, or unique addition to their collection, and, with this acquisition, we will remain a leading site as our community is increasingly adding digital collectibles.”
In May, eBay released its debut NFT collection in partnership with OneOf, a platform based in Tezos and Polygon networks. The collection will feature 3D interpretations of popular athletes featured on the Sports Illustrated covers.
eBay’s presence on web3 could be beneficial to all the potential platforms. The scale with which the giantly platform conducts its businesses could become a much-needed push for this area. We will have to wait to see how this acquisition pans out for KnowOrgins and the NFT market.
Source: https://www.cryptonewsz.com/ebay-nft-venture-continues-with-knownorigin-acquisition/