Top cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has revealed their plans to launch a non-fungible tokens (NFTs) marketplace and issue NFT collateralized loans in 2022.
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Kraken co-founder and CEO Jesse Powell made this known in an interview with Bloomberg News. He revealed that the cryptocurrency exchange is currently working on an NFT marketplace that could appeal to customers who want to do more than just collect digital art.
In the interview with Bloomberg News, Powell said:
If you deposit a CryptoPunk on Kraken, we want to be able to reflect the value of that in your account. And if you want to borrow funds against that.
Jesse Powell expects the cryptocurrency exchange to enter the NFT space by early next year and also hints on a system to determine the liquidation value of the NFT deposited as collateral for loans when the platform is ready.
While non-fungible token has continued to be the fastest growing and trending sector of the blockchain industry in 2021, Powell is expecting the use cases for the tokens to grow by next year.
“Phase one was speculation, phase two is buying art and supporting artists, phase three is going to be functional uses of NFTs,” said Powell. Using deposited NFTs as collateral on Kraken could be one of those uses, he said.
NFT marketplaces has become an area of interest for top cryptocurrency exchanges, with Binance and FTX Exchange already launched their respective NFT marketplaces. While both exchanges do not offer NFT backed loans, Kraken is hoping to be the first exchange to offer such services.