A move I did not see coming and probably you didn’t either.
Famously known for security in web3, Ledger announced that the company will be launching it’s own marketplace, [LEDGER] Market, for artists and creators to release their NFTs. The announcement was made on account of NFT NYC 2022 and it comes as big news amidst a series of marketplace announcements in the space with the likes of an acquisition of an NFT Marketplace by Ebay as well as Uniswap [a popular website to swap cryptocurrencies] announcing that users can now buy and sell NFTs directly on it’s web application having acquired Genie, an NFT Marketplace aggregator.
Ledger, who has been known for security with their hardware wallets for cryptocurrencies & digital assets, had earlier announced that it will be launching it’s own software wallet called Ledger Connect. With the marketplace announcement, Ledger will have built a series of products to ensure the complete end to end experience of Web3.
In the announcement, Ledger mentioned “While everyone is welcome, Ledger customers will be able to securely connect through Ledger Live and clear sign their transactions. For first access to exclusive collaborations, and Ledger hardware, software and services, become a [Ledger] Market Pass holder”. You can get on the Allowlist for the Ledger Market Pass by registering on the premint link available on their website. A few projects that will be showcased on the Ledger Market upon release include RTFKT, TAG Heuer, BRICK and Art by JEN STARK.
In 2022, Ledger had already announced partnerships with several blue chip NFT Projects or even ones that are well on their way of being pegged as a bluechip — to issue custom hardware wallets for their holders with the likes of Veefriends, On Chain Monkey and more. It would come as no surprise if we see a seamless shift of more projects onto the [LEDGER] Market upon it’s release.
Personally, I’m very excited for the launch of both the software wallet and NFT Marketplace. This article’s title questions whether Ledger Market stands a chance at replacing Opensea as the go to place for NFTs on the internet specifically because anyone who has bought or traded NFTs have had a bad experience with Opensea atleast once. They’re good but they’re evidently not the best as it’s been seen that Solana NFT traders still prefer Magic Eden over Opensea despite the latter having expanded into Solana NFTs recently. The added incentive of the support experience on the Ledger website being brilliant will play a huge factor in the growth of it’s marketplace as Opensea’s Achilles heel in the past has been just this.
A lot is yet to be seen though, recently launched NFT Marketplaces haven’t faired well at all with the likes of CoinbaseNFT failing miserably despite the hyped announcement and wait since 2021. Looksrare & X2Y2, two ethereum specific NFT Marketplaces that launched with innovative features like rewarding their own tokens to users for listing NFTs still haven’t been able to catch up to the likes of the king, Opensea has become in the past year and a half. Opensea recently added features that users found appealing as well. But if anyone can challenge Opensea by bringing more value and ensuring better security for it’s users and their assets in web3, it’s Ledger and we’ll find out in time whether they really do.
NEVER FINANCIAL ADVICE — ALWAYS DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH
