NFTs Going Mainstream as eBay Launches First NFT Collection With Wayne Gretzy at the Forefront

According to CoinTelegraph, eBay has officially launched its first NFT drop, with a series of tokenized collectibles starring Wayne Gretsky of the National Hockey League (NHL) going online on May 23.

eBay's First NFT Collection

The collection is currently available for purchase on eBay's marketplace, but the limited edition diamond, platinum, and gold tiers, each costing $1,500, $100, and $25, respectively, have already sold out.

The e-commerce company eBay said that its first NFT collection was created in collaboration with OneOf. This environmentally focused NFT platform enables different "energy-efficient blockchains" to produce sustainable NFT collections.

"The NFTs were minted on Ethereum scaling platform Polygon, and can be put up for secondary trade on OneOf," read CoinTelegraph report.

However, secondary trade for the NFTs on OneOf has been limited thus far, with only three individuals advertising platinum tier tokens at a floor price of $199 and one user listing a gold tier NFT for $69.

It is worth noting that Sports Illustrated magazine covers inspired the animated depictions of Gretsky in the NFT collection. Green tokens have 299 editions per token, gold tokens have 199, platinum tokens have 99, and diamond tokens have 15.

eBay Approved NFT Listing Last Year

NFTs were already a thing with eBay before, as it allowed NFT listings for the first time in mid-2021 but has yet to integrate blockchain technology into its platform to support sales.

As per the report of Reuters, eBay became the first e-commerce company to offer the sale of NFTs for digital collectibles such as trading cards, photos, and video clips on its platform on May 11, 2021.

NFTs have risen in popularity last year as collectors spend tens of millions of dollars on artwork and other goods that only exist online, with some selling for tens of millions of dollars at auction houses Christie's and Sotheby's.

Is This the Perfect Time To Launch an NFT?

As reported last week, NFTs have plunged amid the crypto market crash. In fact, during the recent crypto market downturn, even the sales of the NFT collections Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and Otherdeed have plunged.

This month, BAYC's revenues have plummeted by about 39%, while the collection's floor price has dropped by more than 18%.

Meanwhile, Otherdeed, a Yuga Labs NFT collection that nearly brought down the Ethereum (ETH) network when it was released, has seen its sales decline by 86%.

Other companies, however, continue to launch their NFT marketplaces despite the current predicament.

Last week, GameStop unveiled its own NFT marketplace with this tweet:

The company intends to launch the NFT marketplace by the end of the second quarter of the fiscal year 2022, which falls in July.

GameStop first announced the NFT marketplace in early February, with more specifics given during the company's fourth-quarter earnings call on May 19.

GameStop partnered with Immutable X, an Australian gaming company, to launch the marketplace and NFT plans.

To keep prices low, the duo set up a $100 million fund for NFT gamers, and Immutable X vowed that minting and trading NFTs would be free of gas expenses.