coindesk.com
Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has officially launched its NFT marketplace out of beta testing, supporting over 250 non-fungible tokens (NFTs) across the Ethereum, Solana and Polygon blockchains.
The company launched a public beta version of its NFT platform in November. Initially, it offered support for a curated selection of 70 NFT collections on Ethereum and Solana.
As part of its public launch, the platform has pledged to include not only blue-chip projects like CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club, but also more affordable collections that can be bought for under $100.
Kraken NFT marketplace says it will not charge gas fees to customers who buy and sell NFTs on the platform. However, it specifies that "gas fees will be incurred when transferring NFTs and other cryptoassets on and off the Kraken platform."
Users have the choice to pay in fiat or cryptocurrency and listings will have built-in rarity rankings. Kraken says MetaMask and Solana's Phantom wallet are currently supported and WalletConnect will be added in the future.
Kraken's latest release comes amid a broader regulatory crackdown against the crypto industry. While U.S. exchanges are facing lawsuits from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Canada recently tightened its regulatory framework for digital asset trading.
Kraken has remained in Canada despite its crypto crackdown while competitors like Binance and OKX have announced their departures, allowing it to usurp the market and grow its customer deposits by 25% in the weeks following the exits. Kraken remains available to U.S. customers with some state-by-state trading restrictions.