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Source:
Unsplash
Amazon
reportedly
aims
to
dabble
into
NFTs
and
Web3
gaming
with
an
upcoming
initiative
related
to
digital
assets.
The
world’s
largest
retailer
is
planning
to
launch
a
“digital
assets
enterprise”
focused
on
non-fungible
tokens
and
Web3
gaming
this
spring,
Blockworks
reported
Thursday,
citing
four
anonymous
sources
familiar
with
Amazon’s
intentions.
Per
the
report,
Amazon’s
initiative
is
in
the
relatively
early
stages
of
development
and
the
firm
is
expecting
to
make
an
official
announcement
in
April.
Furthermore,
the
e-commerce
giant
has
more
than
a
dozen
partners
lined
up
for
the
project,
including
layer-1
blockchains,
blockchain-based
gaming
startups
and
developers,
and
digital
asset
exchanges.
“One
example
in
the
works,
per
one
source:
getting
Amazon
customers
to
play
crypto
games
and
claim
free
NFTs
in
the
process,”
the
report
said,
adding
that
Amazon
executives
leading
the
initiative
have
reached
out
to
at
least
one
family
office
in
recent
months.
They
have
also
allegedly
planned
to
conduct
an
NFT
drop
with
an
artist.
It
is
worth
noting
that
Amazon
has
been
posting
roles
for
developers
and
engineers
in
the
Web3
realm
since
2021.
Back
then,
the
company posted a
vacancy
seeking
a
“Digital
Currency
and
Blockchain
Product
Lead,”
with
a
deep
understanding
of
the
digital,
cryptocurrency
ecosystem.
In
April
last
year,
Amazon
CEO
Andy
Jassy
told
CNBC
that
he
is
optimistic
about
the
future
of
cryptocurrencies
and
NFTs.
At
the
time,
he
said
the
e-commerce
giant
was
not
looking
into
adding
crypto
payments,
but
he
claimed
he
“do
believe
over
time
that
you’ll
see
crypto
become
bigger.”
“You
know,
I
expect
that
NFTs
will
continue
to
grow
very
significantly,”
Jassy
said,
adding
that
he
could
envision
a
future
where
the
e-commerce
giant
sells
NFTs.
More
recently,
it
was
revealed
that
Amazon,
through
AWS, entered
into
a
“cooperation” with
Ava
Labs
to
speed
up
the
adoption
of
blockchain
technology
across
various
industries.
AWS
intends
to
make
available
one-click
node
deployments
to
support
Avalanche’s
infrastructure
and
decentralized
applications
(DApps)
ecosystem.
Aside
from
Amazon,
a
number
of
other
major
mainstream
companies
have
also
announced
plans
to
expand
both
into
NFTs
and
other
cryptocurrencies
over
the
past
year.
In
November,
a
patent
filing revealed Sony’s
vision
for
a
system
that
could
be
used
to
track
the
creation,
use,
and
transfer
of
digital
assets
created
within
a
game.
The
patent
envisions
a
system
for
“creating,
modifying,
tracking,
authenticating,
and/or
transferring
unique
digital
assets”
associated
with
video
games.
Furthermore,
investment
giant
Fidelity
also
hinted
at
an
intent
to
push
deeper
into
cryptocurrencies
and
Web3
with
three
new
trademarks
filed
in
December
last
year.
The
filings
have
a
focus
on
NFTs
and
virtual
worlds
like
the
Metaverse.