Japanese E-Commerce Mercari Launches NFT Marketplace

Japanese e-commerce platform Mercari has launched its personal non-fungible token (NFT) market, “Mercari NFT.” 

The brand new platform permits customers to purchase and promote standard NFTs already listed on OpenSea. At the moment, {the marketplace} incorporates a vary of collections, together with anime-based digital belongings.

Mercari NFT integrates with the Mercari e-commerce platform, permitting customers to make use of their gross sales stability to buy NFTs while not having a crypto pockets or creating a brand new account.

Wanting forward, Mercari has plans to collaborate with companies and mental property (IP) holders in Japan and overseas. The corporate goals to concern and promote NFTs that includes buying and selling playing cards, artwork, and entertainment-related content material.

This launch coincides with a difficult interval for the NFT market. In accordance with a latest DappRadar report, the NFT market has skilled sharp declines in 2024. Buying and selling volumes and gross sales have dropped to their lowest ranges since 2020. 

Elements contributing to this downturn embody regulatory uncertainty and elevated scrutiny from authorities.

In latest months, the U.S. Securities and Change Fee (SEC) has ramped up enforcement actions throughout the NFT area. 

In September, the SEC issued a Wells discover to the NFT challenge CyberKongz, alleging securities legislation violations associated to token use in blockchain gaming. 

Different notable circumstances embody a Wells discover despatched to OpenSea in August and one other to Immutable in November, doubtlessly linked to its IMX token.

These actions have sparked requires clearer laws. Two artists filed a lawsuit towards the SEC in July, in search of clarification on whether or not NFTs ought to be handled as securities. In the meantime, the Digital Chamber, a U.S. blockchain advocacy group, has urged Congress to categorise sure NFTs as client items quite than securities.