Crypto Exchange Kraken’s New NFT Marketplace to Issue Loans

In a recent interview with Bloomberg News, Kraken founder and CEO Jesse Powell said that the crypto exchange would create a nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace that will allow customers to borrow dollars against their NFTs.

Powell stated that the business intends to join the NFT industry in early 2022 and aims to provide a function that will allow users to calculate an NFT’s liquidation value and use it as collateral for a loan.

“We want to be able to show the value of a CryptoPunk in your account if you deposit one on Kraken,” Powell added. “And if you want to take out a loan against it.”

However, the value of NFTs varies widely, and only a tiny minority of token owners own a digital collectible worth as much as a CryptoPunk, which has a floor price of 66.9 Ether (ETH) or $273,673 at the time of publishing.

NFT utility, according to Powell, will surge next year:

“Phase one was speculation, phase two was buying art and supporting artists, and phase three will be functional applications of NFTs.”