Canon and Amazon Are Launching NFT Marketplaces

On-chain data shows that NFT trading volumes have risen from their nadir in October 2022, with volumes at their highest since December 2022 – setting the stage for the industry to make an imminent comeback.

Industry observers and investors alike are welcoming the recent uptick in NFT trading volumes over the first several months of 2023, attributing it to growing demand for digital assets, and as NFT technology itself matures.

Case in point: the entrance of major global conglomerates into web3 have injected some life into the NFT space, with the announcement of the imminent launches of the Canon and Amazon NFT marketplaces in the coming weeks and months. 

Here’s what you need to know about the latest developments surrounding both giants’ NFT marketplaces’ respective launches in 2023.

Canon launching Cadabra digital photo NFT marketplace

Canon Inc’s USA subsidiary recently revealed that plans are underway to launch Cadabra, a digital photography NFT marketplace.

And while the tech giant hasn’t been too generous about the specifics of how its brand spanking new NFT marketplace will be operated, Canon USA has given an exclusive sneak peek to participants at the recently-concluded annual NFT.NYC event.

What we do know, thus far, is that Cadabra has built-in support with credit and debit cards as well as crypto wallets. Moreover, NFTs on Cadabra will be supported on the pre-eminent smart contract platform Ethereum (ETH).

More info about the Cadabra NFT marketplace’s featured creators and first NFT drop is expected to be announced later this year.

Cadabra will be available to U.S.-based users upon launch; however, it is scheduled to be rolled out internationally in the future.

The move marks the Tokyo-based global digital imaging and photography conglomerate’s first major campaign into web3 following its “The Legends Mint” NFT drop last June 2022, which featured tokenized digital works from renowned photographers around the world in NFT format (launched on the Solana blockchain). 

Talking about the photography sphere — earlier in our Blog we have also mentioned the National Geographic magazine launched its first NFTs on the Polygon blockchain.

Amazon rolling out NFT marketplace on April 24

Not to be outdone, global online retail colossus Amazon likewise announced its first foray into web3 by inaugurating its very own NFT marketplace beginning with users in the United States this coming April 24, according to TheBigWhale media source.

Amazon’s NFT marketplace will be gradually rolled out to the rest of the world shortly thereafter. The marketplace will be accessible through the Amazon homepage as a tab.

Reports have alluded to the Seattle-based corporation shelving their launch and postponing it twice despite being ready since last year as a result of the sensational collapse of what was then the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, FTX.

Amazon can’t have picked a better time to launch than now, with bullish sentiment beginning to coalesce around the crypto industry after a torrid 2022. Moreover, Amazon’s NFT marketplace launch could serve as the bulwark that will onboard the next wave of new web3 users at a time when the industry is whistling in the dark for the narrative that will lead towards mass adoption.

The potential is tantalizing. If only but a fraction of Amazon’s upwards of 300 million active global users are onboarded in its new NFT marketplace, the industry may be poised for exponential growth in the coming months and years – which can only be good news for observers, enthusiasts, and investors. 

More news on global companies getting into web3

1. Google, for instance, has recently announced that it was partnering with enterprise/institutional blockchain solutions provider Casper Labs to boost its web3 exposure as it goes head-to-head with Amazon Web Services (AWS) for cloud computing supremacy. 
2. Amazon, meanwhile, has partnered with AVA Labs. The company behind smart contract platform Avalanche (AVAX) to accelerate web3 adoption by providing execution environments for blockchain developers building on the latter.
3. ​​Moreover, leading entertainment and consumer electronics powerhouse Sony, through its gaming division Sony Interactive Entertainment, has filed a patent to enable the transfer of in-game digital assets as NFTs across consoles and video games – which has long been bandied as one of the technology’s most salient use cases since it first captivated audiences in 2020.

The final word

These new NFT trends may very well serve as the flashpoint for the next generation of new users – and therefore, new cash flow in the industry – which the industry has been sorely missing after a rough 2022.

More than ever, people are understanding how NFTs have come a long way from static PFP projects that have seemingly run their course, towards a greater focus on utility, purpose, and novel uses for the technology, rather than the hyper-financialization and over-speculation that has given the industry a controversial rap.

While there will always be skeptics, new technologies often follow the same adoption curve – and if Canon and Amazon’s announcements are any indication, then NFTs may very well play a major role in the digital photography industry moving forward. 

If you are interested in NFTs, you might also like our previous Blog posts dedicated to this topic: The World’s First NFT Shop Opens in Dubai, Meta Winds Down Support for NFTs: What’s Next? and NFTs From Politicians and Musicians.