eBay is the latest company to sell NFTs via fiat money, even as interest declines

US-based e-commerce company, eBay, has become the latest to launch the first sale of unique digital artwork via non-fungible tokens (NFTs). More importantly, eBay’s NFT sale targets non-crypto users, since it would allow them to pay for its NFT collection through standard, fiat money instruments such as credit cards – and not need you to hold a specific token in a cryptocurrency wallet, to be able to pay for them.

NFT platform OneOf, which will help mint eBay’s NFTs through Tezos or the Ethereum-based Polygon blockchains, is offering the technology support behind the platform. OneOf specializes in “lifestyle” NFT collections, and already has an existing partnership with American publication, Sports Illustrated.

Prices of eBay’s NFTs range between $10 and $1,500, and are hockey-themed digital artwork for interested users to collect. The project is the latest of multiple companies that are not directly invested in blockchain and web3 technologies adopting NFTs. In India, for instance, online travel platform Makemytrip, and car maker MG Motors, have announced NFT drops.

Makemytrip, for instance, offered users travel-themed NFTs, which were digital artwork produced by generative adversarial network (GAN), or artificially intelligent (AI) algorithms, based on popular travel destinations in India. MG Motors offered four classes of collectible art as part of its launch collection.

Both the companies partnered with Indian blockchain company Koinearth’s NgageN platform, which allows users to purchase NFTs directly through fiat payment instruments – and not need to pay via crypto tokens.

In January this year, global payments platform Masterchef announced a partnership with cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, in order to allow users to buy NFTs using fiat payment instruments. The partnership made way for users to buy NFTs using Mastercard credit or debit cards, adding to the list of platforms that are facilitating NFT adoption without restricting them to crypto holders.

However, the craze around NFTs has seemingly cooled down of late. Earlier this month, data from The Block revealed that NFT trade volumes had declined by 49.2% in less than one month. Other trackers had also documented similar declines, which projects such as eBay’s NFT collection with OneOf will hope to solve by roping in fiat payment methods.