GameStop’s Ethereum NFT Marketplace will support Loopring layer-2 technology and Immutable X. Although users can connect their wallets to the beta version of this marketplace, trading functionality is still not available.
GameStop, a video game retailer, is moving to embrace the crypto world. As it shifts away from physical goods and builds its business around digital products, its NFT marketplace has finally begun to take shape. Today, the retailer launched a limited-functionality beta, built on Ethereum scaling provider Loopring.
Loopring’s layer-2 Scaling Solution allows users to connect an Ethereum wallet, such as MetaMask, to the platform. A profile and display name can be set, but there is no NFT trading functionality.
Loopring’s layer-2 technology is more efficient, faster and cheaper than Ethereum’s blockchain. However, it retains the security of Ethereum’s Ethereum mainnet. Loopring’s zkRollup technology allows for thousands of transactions to be bundled together and then committed to Ethereum in one mainnet transaction.
Leaked last fall was the firm’s involvement with GameStop’s NFT plan. Internet sleuths found references to Loopring tech within the evolving marketplace codebase and other possible hints. Loopring’s LRC token went up in value by more than 200% within a matter of weeks.
However, anyone who has been following GameStop NFT news may find the announcement confusing. GameStop had announced in February that rival layer-2 solution ImmutableX would power NFT marketplace. Immutable and the retailer also created a $100 million token incentive for game developers.
It turns out that GameStop will eventually use both layer-2 tech providers to power its NFT plans. Today Immutable posted a thread in which it noted that GameStop is its preferred partner for the marketplace and that they are working together to source game developers for their NFTs. Immutable claims that it has received thousands of inquiries about its IMX token incentives from NFT creators and game makers.
Immutable said that Loopring integration was not surprising (and they are welcome! “, and that the GameStop marketplace would act as an aggregator for NFT minting platforms. However, Immutable X will get the most attention in the marketplace.
Loopring’s LRC token has increased 34% in the last 24 hours at a price of $1.12 per coinGecko. Immutable’s IMX token has increased by almost 3% at a cost of $2.28.
GameStop revealed last week that its NFT marketplace will be launched by the end its Q2 2022 fiscal years. GameStop’s 2021 fiscal years ended on January 29 . This gives GameStop a late July deadline for its NFT initiative.
Immutable X will provide substantial IMX token payments for GameStop as part the deal. GameStop has sold $47 million worth tokens since February when their partnership was announced. The price of IMX fell significantly after the announcement. It was down by as much as 23% in the 24 hours prior.
“Immutable does not comment on the actions by $IMX holders but Immutable has not sold any tokens since the public sales of IMX,” the firm stated in a statement to Decrypt in February. Future token allocations to GameStop will be attached to milestones that are based on the success and growth of the GameStop NFT Marketplace, which includes a $3 billion transaction volume.
Immutable, a crypto company, announced earlier this month that it raised $200m in Series C funding for a valuation $2.5 billion. This makes it the latest to join the ranks of unicorns, which are startups valued at at least $1 billion.
