• Kraken CEO has announced the launch of a custodial NFT marketplace, joining the race with exchanges like Binance.
• Kraken’s NFT marketplace would provide custody services to exchanges and offer users funds in exchange for digital art and collectibles as collateral.
• Proponents consider 2021 the year when NFTs went mainstream.

NFTs have become mainstream with rising institutional capital inflow. The US-based cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has announced the launch of its NFT platform.

Kraken’s custodial marketplace to offer loans in exchange of NFTs

The US-based exchange has revealed plans to enter the race of non-fungible tokens. Jesse Powell, CEO and founder of Kraken, told Bloomberg in an interview that the exchange is developing a marketplace to facilitate loans for users using NFTs as collateral.

Kraken’s NFT custodial marketplace will determine the liquidation value of the digital art and collectibles before accepting them as collateral.

Kraken’s marketplace will act as a custodian, following in the footsteps of exchanges like Coinbase and FTX. However, unlike its competitors, Kraken will offer additional features to NFT holders.

Powell believes that 2021 is the year of NFTs, and it will go down in history as the period in time when non-fungible tokens became mainstream. There is a spike in the interest in NFTs, driving an increase in the capital inflow.

The Kraken CEO expects rising demand to attract investors and institutions to the NFT platform and offer more than purchasing and selling digital art.

Powell was quoted as saying,

If you deposit a CryptoPunk on Kraken, we want to be able to reflect the value of that in your account. And if you want to borrow funds against that.

FTX’s NFT platform lists Ethereum and Solana-based non-fungible tokens on its platform. Kraken’s NFT marketplace is a part of the exchange’s expansion.