Amazon’s New Venture: A Digital Assets Company for NFTs and Crypto Games, Sources Say

Amazon is reportedly working on a digital assets company that will power an NFT marketplace this spring.

According to sources interviewed by the media outlet Blockworks, the retail giant has been buying digital collectibles companies from various players in the crypto ecosystem to power its new venture.

So far, Amazon has invested in layer-1 blockchains and crypto gaming companies and has hired developers from NFT companies and cryptocurrency exchanges for its own blockchain unit.

Amazon Bets On Crypto Gaming Industry

According to one source, Amazon is preparing to launch a series of crypto games that would allow its customers to claim free NFTs. This move would be significant for the crypto gaming industry, which has seen a decline in players due to the multiple project scams that hit the market in late 2021. However, Amazon doesn’t seem concerned about that data, as the company witnessed the best of times for crypto gaming when many of those projects were forced to expand the storage services offered by Amazon Web Services due to the enormous player demand.

The entry of a giant like Amazon is significant for the crypto ecosystem, as it will surely attract many players just waiting for the right moment to return to the crypto gaming industry. Sources seemed to be quite positive about the positive outcome of Amazon’s entry into the Web3 space:

“We knew it was possible, […] But now it seems like it’s really happening. That’s going to affect the existing players in the space — if they execute and do this right and are smart about it.”

Amazon Could Become The Biggest Thing In The NFT Industry

Several sources said that Amazon will be running the new NFT platform, rather than by subsidiaries, to have complete control of a platform that could become the largest in the NFT industry. It is currently unknown whether Amazon’s new platform will seek to compete directly against the big NFT marketplaces like OpenSea, Rarible, or the latest Samsung NFT Platform or whether it will be more focused on crypto gaming—especially considering that Amazon owns Twitch.

With the vast number of Amazon users, its entry into the crypto ecosystem will not go unnoticed. It will attract many investors who know the potential of an industry that is growing and has a lot of room for improvement and growth inside the broader gaming industry —the largest business in the entertainment sector.

As reported by Cryptopotato, In April 2022, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said the company was open to selling non-fungible tokens (NFTs) “in the distant future,” but that they were not planning to accept cryptocurrency payments. However, on January 11th, Ava Labs announced a partnership with Amazon to increase the adoption of blockchain technology in businesses, institutions, and at the government level by managing Avalanche’s decentralized infrastructure and applications through Amazon Web Services (AWS).

We’re joining forces with @Amazon to help enterprises and governments build compliant blockchain solutions. #AWS makes it easier to launch and manage #Avalanche nodes, giving the network more strength and flexibility for developers.https://t.co/vgabB5c6Ya

— Ava Labs 🔺 (@avalabsofficial) January 11, 2023

Although the company still refuses to accept payments in cryptocurrencies, for now, it is gradually opening its doors to the crypto ecosystem. So who knows, we might see Amazon as a crypto-friendly company in a couple of years.