Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) CEO Brian Armstrong is extremely bullish on the future of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Coinbase is the largest U.S. digital asset exchange platform, having recently reported Q3 revenue of $1.2 billion. Most of this revenue comes from collecting transaction fees from the purchase and sale of cryptocurrencies. Armstrong recently made the prediction that NFTs could be “as big or bigger” than Coinbase’s crypto business during the Q3 earnings conference call. The fact that Armstrong believes NFTs could rival the monetization of cryptocurrency on its platform speaks volumes.
Armstrong isn’t just predicting that the NFT marketplace could rival the crypto business to stir controversy. Last month, Coinbase announced its plans to add an NFT marketplace to its platform. The plan was received with much fanfare, as over 1 million people signed up to be on the waitlist. Coinbase has 68 million verified users and 8.8 million monthly active users (MAUs), so the waitlist number is likely to go up before the actual launch. The cryptocurrency platform plans on releasing NFT functionality either next quarter or the quarter after.
Coinbase won’t be the first cryptocurrency platform to launch an NFT marketplace. Earlier this year, FTX and Binance (CCC:BNB-USD) launched NFT marketplaces on their platform.
OpenSea is currently the largest NFT marketplace in the world. According to DappRadar, the platform boasted over 236,000 unique user addresses the past 30 days. In August of this year, OpenSea surpassed $1 billion in monthly trading volume for the first time ever. Notably, Coinbase has previously invested privately in OpenSea.
Let’s take a deeper look into what experts are saying about the future of NFTs.
NFT Predictions: How Big Will the Market Get? What’s the Timeline?
- OpenSea founder Devin Finzer is optimistic about the future of NFTs. He stated that the “order of magnitude shift in terms of the size of the market I think, will happen over [the next five years].”
- Shark Tank judge and entrepreneur Kevin O’Leary is a big fan of NFTs. InvestorPlace’s own Brenden Rearick recently sat down with O’Leary to hear his vision for the future of NFTs. The entrepreneur sees possible uses outside of selling digital art, such as authentication of physical assets. Furthermore, he thinks major breakthroughs will come “over the next 36 months.”
- Tesla CEO Elon Musk seems to be onboard with NFTs as well. In March of this year, Musk tweeted “I’m selling this song about NFTs as an NFT.” However, he ultimately passed on the opportunity. Nonetheless, his tweet attracted widespread media attention toward NFTs.
On the date of publication, Eddie Pan did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
