There is no need for Shopify’s millions of merchants to direct their customers to a dedicated NFT marketplace like Magic Eden or OpenSea if they sell NFTs. Instead, they can mint and list NFTs through their existing storefront through one of Shopify’s blockchain apps. Thanks to Venly, those NFTs can now be minted on Avalanche.
Avalanche support has been added to Venly’s Shopify NFT minting app, a blockchain tech startup. Shopify’s layer-1 blockchain platform, which was previously only accessible to select Shopify users, has now been made available to all merchants. The platform is billed as a faster and cheaper alternative to Ethereum, which is a top NFT platform.
The company claims it powers online storefronts for millions of sellers around the world. Its CEO, Tobi Lütke, is a Web3 advocate who also serves on Coinbase’s board of directors.
Avalanche wallets are not required for buyers to purchase NFTs, according to Venly, nor do they need to handle cryptocurrencies to buy them. After paying with fiat money (such as a credit card), they will receive a link to a newly created Avalanche wallet, which contains the newly minted NFT, which can then be transferred anywhere.
Avalanche NFT support added to OpenSea
In addition to providing blockchain wallet solutions, Venly is one of several blockchain apps integrated within the Shopify ecosystem. Other partners have provided tools for users to mint NFTs on Ethereum and Flow platforms.
According to Tim Dierckxsens, the founder and CEO of Venly, the company first offered NFT minting tools to brands and artists on Shopify, but it saw growing demand for an easy-to-use, no-code tool for merchants to create NFTs. In order to streamline NFT sales for mainstream users, Shopify asked Venly to develop an app.
It is one of the biggest developments for NFTs [in terms of mass adoption], Dierckxsens told Decrypt. “You do not need to understand cryptography to purchase it.”
Venly allows Shopify merchants to sell NFT collectibles, provide NFT token-gated experiences, tie NFT tokens to physical products for authentication, and a number of other possibilities. Additionally, Dierckxsens believes that social media channels that integrate or point to Shopify stores can be used by creators and artists to sell NFTs.
Shopify Blockchain Ecosystem Lead Christina Lomazzo said in a release, “Our growing blockchain ecosystem demonstrates our commitment to supporting merchants as they sell NFTs directly through their storefronts, helping to grow participation in Web3 and expand what is possible in commerce.”
In late 2021, Venly launched its Shopify NFT minting tool on the Ethereum scaling network Polygon. Dierckxsens said Venly will soon add support for NFTs minted through Hedera and Ethereum scaling network Immutable X. Avalanche is the second network to be supported.