Ebay Takes NFTs Mainstream, Sort Of
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eBay is going to become an NFT marketplace, as the company plans to "bring blockchain-driven collectibles'' to its platform. Awesome!
But the devil is in the details. If I buy an NFT for crypto at a crypto-based NFT marketplace and sell it for fiat dollars on eBay (or vice versa), does eBay become a frictionless currency exchange? How does the blockchain get updated when the transaction occurs? How does a fiat currency transaction satisfy a smart contract?
eBay doesn't mention crypto in its press release, which is strange because the company will have to accept a wide range of cryptocurrencies to make its NFT marketplace viable. Otherwise, eBay becomes a central authority, and that is the absolute opposite of what smart contracts and cryptoeconomic security are all about.
OK, forget the details. This may be like finding out your Mom liked one of your TikTok videos. Let's see what eBay actually does with this.
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