OKcoin joins a slew of crypto exchanges to launch NFT marketplace

Okcoin is the latest crypto exchange to launch its own NFT marketplace as the NFT market has been growing exponentially year-on-year in terms of market size and trading volume.

 The San-Francisco based company, which was founded in 2013, is starting a marketplace for nonfungible tokens (NFTs), joining a slew of crypto exchange like Coinbase, Kraken and Gemini to capitalize on NFT craze.

According to Hong Fang, the CEO of Okcoin, the exchange aims to stand out from rivals like Crypto.com, FTX, and Binance by launching a NFT marketplace with zero transaction fees.

“Some of our competitor out there, they charge a sell fee on top of the sales proceeds,” Hong said.

In addition, Okcoin says it will eventually roll out the feature to buy NFTs directly with fiat currency.

Okcoin start taking NFT projects for the waitlist, with plans to launch later in 2022.

The new marketplace will support the creation and trading of NFTs on different blockchains, including Ethereum, Polygon, and Binance Smart Chain; collectors can use mobile and browser-based wallets like Metamask to buy and sell the NFTs.

“We’re launching a free market for NFTs where prices and profits will be determined by supply and demand, more so than anywhere else. Web3 is about restoring economic power to the people, and at Okcoin, we’re doing our part by granting as much sovereignty to individuals as possible when it comes to their money, and now, their art,” said Hong Fang in a press release.

Okcoin was founded in China but has relocated much of its operations to other overseas bases in recent years amid a crackdown on cryptocurrency in the country.

In June 2021, Chinese cryptocurrency exchanges like Huobi and OKcoin have shut down their respective subsidiaries in Beijing and informed the investors to liquidate their account within the next 45 days.

In fact, OKcoin’s Beijing subsidiary had remained a non-operational entity for years and did not bring in much revenue.

“Beijing subsidiary was canceled because this entity has not had any business operations,” said a OKcoin representative.”