01/08/2021 Shopify allows merchants to sell NFTs directly through their storefronts

Shopify has made it possible for eligible sellers to sell NFTs (non-fungible tokens) via its platform, which opens up a whole new world for e-commerce merchants.

On Monday, the NBA’s Chicago Bulls launched its first-ever NFTs –– including digital artwork of NBA championship rings –– by launching an online store on Shopify. Instead of having to go to an NFT marketplace, Bulls fans can now purchase the digital art directly with the team’s online store using a credit or debit card. In its first day of making them available, the NBA team sold out of the NFTs within just 90 seconds, according to Kaz Nejatian, Shopify’s VP of merchant services.

“You could buy NFTs on credit cards before, but honestly the NFT buying experience outside Shopify isn’t awesome for anyone right now,” he told TechCrunch “That’s why we decided to do this work. Merchants and buyers shouldn’t have to take a course in crypto to buy things they care about.”

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It’s also about giving consumers more options to buy NFTs – especially those who are not well-versed in cryptocurrency.

By making it possible for merchants to sell NFTs directly through their Shopify storefronts, the company says it’s creating access for merchants who want to sell NFTs. They will eventually be able to choose which blockchain they’d like to sell on based on their products and customer base since Shopify supports multiple blockchains, Nejatian said.

“By contrast, if merchants want to sell on an NFT marketplace, they need to choose based on the blockchain supported by that marketplace,” he added.

The Chicago Bulls selected the Flow blockchain for their NFTs, for example. But overall, Shopify merchants can today choose from Flow and Ethereum, but soon “will have more choice with other blockchains on Shopify,” according to Nejatian.

The move was also driven by demand from merchants asking for the ability to sell NFTs and the desire to give creators and artists another forum to grow professionally.

“Many creators are already seeing the value of selling NFTs to their fans, but we’re removing some of the friction for themselves and their buyers, allowing them to better monetize their work and their connection to their audience,” he added. “We’re opening up a world where their fans feel meaningful connection to their brands, and where NFTs just increasingly become part of how we buy and sell online.”

Arts

https://techcrunch.com/2021/07/27/shopify-now-allowing-imerchants-to-sell-nfts-directly-through-their-storefronts/

Interesting NFTs
The Moth Catcher
In this psychologically bed-headed portrait, a creature sets in a trance; his eyes devolved and vestigal, his third eye open but hardened and in a form resembling a Sharingan. The imagery therefore expresses an awareness existing in corporeal introspection. The creature’s mind sprouts, on the left side, an emerging face, grinning. To the right side of the head, red tentacles and fingers intertwine–a collaboration of invertebrate and vertebrate consciousness cooperatively handling paint brushes of the sort used to build an oil painting. The neck and throat bristle with random thorns, as from a rose or the upper portions of a beak sprouting from its flesh. The neck itself disassociates into layers of membranous material, terminating upon an abstracted base of convoluted forms composing its body. The nose is virtually non existent, more a sinus reiterative of the shape of the third eye. Set against the exposed teeth peering out of thick, meaty cheeks, a skeleton-like impression results. That impression sets behind a visceral set of lips and tongue, which is the creature’s prime seat of awareness. Sensual, organic, the tongue organ hangs, meaty, and with consciousness of a sea cucumber. It illuminates at the tip, drawing the attraction of a nearby moth–with mystery of purpose.
Crypto Bubble
Realize what you really want. It stops you from chasing butterflies and puts you to work digging gold. Digital Artwork by Sandro Ieva
The Boy in Bed
You are not alone, little boy. Everyone is prone to some kind of darkness, Treating it like a childhood friend: "How could it possibly betray us?" We share similar stories of descent, Enjoying the illusions we made to cope, Distracting ourselves from the moments Of great awareness—we're running out of hope. We are being swallowed, one by one, And I beg the heavens to bring those illusions back. Our last stars are gravitating away, Leaving our psyche under attack. So please stay awake a little longer, young knight. There are familiar creatures creeping in. They all want your soul in aimless saunter, Like the fish that Jonah lived in. Look up and let's befriend Midnight herself, That perhaps she will calm us down. Don't make the same mistake I did, For I was deceived by a demon with a crown. Who would have ever thought that Our bedrooms could be a warzone? We are lost children of Ares, And our worn-out bed, our throne. Just a little more courage, young prince. Take on shapes like thick smoke, For in your sanctuary of a bedroom, The envious monsters outside, you might provoke. You're shielded and barriered yet vulnerable. You have refuge but not enough strength to fight, For you were tricked into thinking you're weak, By your bad dreams, night after night. See, open your eyes, dear one. Remember, you are not alone In this doomsday-like period Of isolation that no one could have known.
#49997
By OthersideDeployer
CryptoPunk #2140
The CryptoPunks are 10,000 uniquely generated characters. No two are exactly alike, and each one of them can be officially owned by a single person on the Ethereum blockchain. Originally, they could be claimed for free by anybody with an Ethereum wallet, but all 10,000 were quickly claimed. Now they must be purchased from someone via the marketplace that's also embedded in the blockchain.