Coinbase NFT waitlist surpasses 1m on first day

The waiting list for Coinbase’s newly announced NFT marketplace topped 1m sign ups on its first day the company has said.

On Tuesday, Nasdaq-listed crypto exchange Coinbase announced that prospective users for its upcoming NFT platform would be able to join the waiting list to gain access to a decentralised marketplace that will open up minting, purchasing, showcasing of NFTs.

A day later the waiting list had already swelled to 1m with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong taking to Twitter to announce the news.

Sanchan Sexana head of product for Coinbase also shared his excitement via social media. “We are getting a LOT of signups – so grateful for all your interest,” Sexana said. “We are seeing insane loads on our servers and our team is working hard to get this resolved.”

It comes amid an explosion of interest in non fungible-tokens (NFTs), unique digital artworks which record proof of ownership on the blockchain. In the third quarter of the year NFT sales volumes accelerated rapidly to stand at a record shattering $10.7bn.

Hype around the digital artworks has been growing steadily since March when the sale of an NFT by artist Beeple raised $69m.

Coinbase, which has 68m users, has confirmed it will launch the new marketplace before the end of 2021 and those on the waitlist will be among the first invited to join the platform.

While some of the sign ups to the wait list could be spam or duplicates it is clear that demand for the product is strong.

Read more: Coinbase to launch NFT marketplace