eBay, the e-commerce giant, is experimenting in the NFT industry with digital hockey collectibles featuring hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, which will launch on Polygon.
On Monday, the eBay team sent a press statement announcing the collection. The construction of this collection, nicknamed “Genesis,” was aided by a strategic cooperation with the OneOf NFT marketplace. It will feature 3D animated digital replicas of previous Sports Illustrated covers featuring Wayne Gretzky, a former professional hockey player.
The OneOf marketplace has chosen the Polygon blockchain for this collection although the decision has drawn some criticism, to which Joshua James, the OneOf team’s COO, commented,
“OneOf believes the future is multi-chain and we made the decision to go with Polygon on the initial Sports Illustrated drop…For continuity across the SI collection, we will be using Polygon for all of their drops. We are still huge Tezos supporters as you can see with all of our other recent drops.”
The Genesis collection’s initial drop is now available on eBay. It features 13 limited edition NFT packs organized into four tiers with various amounts of uniqueness. The cheapest green tier is $10, and the gold, platinum, and diamond tiers are all more expensive.
The most expensive NFT in the drop retails for $1,500. The NFTs are digital renditions of Gretzky in various stances, with his digitized signature appearing on some of the pieces.
However, unlike most other NFTs, none of these items may be purchased using bitcoin. Furthermore, the sale of these NFTs will not take place on-chain. Instead, interested customers can purchase these tokens using solely US dollars on eBay’s Web2 platform.
Dawn Block, eBay’s VP of Collectibles, Electronics, and Home, commented on the first drop, saying,
“NFTs and blockchain technology are revolutionizing the collectibles space, and are increasingly viewed as an investment opportunity for enthusiasts. Through our partnership with OneOf, eBay is now making coveted NFTs more accessible to a new generation of collectors everywhere. This builds upon our commitment to deliver high passion, high-value items to the eBay community of buyers and sellers.”
The online store expressed interest in the blockchain and crypto industry when eBay’s CEO hinted at a prospective digital wallet launch. eBay’s Genesis collection will be the company’s first venture into the non-fungible tokens market.