Coinbase Wallet rolls out support for NFTs

Nonfungible tokens took the crypto market by storm this year, with sales expected to reach almost $18 billion by the end of 2021.

United States crypto exchange Coinbase has made new upgrades to its self-custody wallet, including adding support for nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, in a move that could drive further adoption of its browser extension. 

The company announced Tuesday that Coinbase Wallet will soon be able to support NFTs, giving users the ability to view their collections and access leading NFT marketplaces like OpenSea. Coinbase didn’t specify an exact date for the rollout but said users will need to have the latest version of the browser extension installed to access the features.

Looking ahead into 2022, Coinbase said it plans to expand its support for NFTs, as well as make its native decentralized exchange trading feature more accessible and affordable. Coinbase Wallet has a DEX integration feature that allows users to convert their holdings through various decentralized exchanges. As Cointelegraph reported, Coinbase recently unveiled a new standalone browser extension for its wallet that allows users to access a wider array of crypto assets on the leading DEXs.

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While NFT mania has cooled significantly in recent months, the growth of digital collectibles is one of the most defining trends of 2021. Cointelegraph Consulting estimates that total NFT sales are expected to top $17.7 billion this year. Data from NonFungible shows that weekly sales peaked in late August at more than $1.6 billion.

Ranked by total volume, Coinbase is now the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, according to CoinMarketCap. Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, already supports an NFT marketplace and in October announced support for multi-chain NFT deposits and withdrawals.