Shopify now has an app for all its art loving merchants that allows them to mint as well as sell non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The launch was announced by Verisart in the run up to the fourth annual NFT Industry Event, held from June 20 to 23, 2022.
Verisart is available for Shopify Plus merchants on the Shopify App Store. It requires no coding for merchants to mint and sell NFTs along with other products featured on their online stores. The only condition is that they must belong to the art-related commerce and must have “.art” in their domains.
We are committed to empowering creators with the technology they need to thrive.
Verisart CEO and co-founder Robert Norton
Customers visiting these art stores can claim NFTs using a dashboard provided by the store owner. Verisart is useful for all merchants and customers as it supports multiple blockchains.
About Verisart
At the launch of the app, the 2015-established company claimed to “have worked with over 25,000 creators to build their careers across digital and physical spaces”. Shepard Fairey, AES+F, Pindar Van Arman, Mario Klingemann, Petra Cortight and Brendan Dawes are among the creators mentioned by Verisart.
“We are committed to empowering creators with the technology they need to thrive,” Verisart CEO and co-founder Robert Norton said in a release.
Art Support
Talking about the “.art” domains, .ART Collective founder Ulvi Kasimov said: “As .ART marks its fifth anniversary this year, we continue to drive forward innovation in the art world by sharing the benefits of tech. NFTs have changed the creator economy by providing a new revenue stream to artists and creators, and we are excited to be providing our domain holders this unique offer to sell NFTs on their own terms by using the Verisart Shopify App.”
The initiative is supported by the art.art website. “Our mission is to support the artistic community, protect and strengthen its members’ digital identity, and generate value from art. We are continually fostering partnerships and developing new tools to serve as an activation agent to connect tech, art and finance — digitally, but on a human scale,” the website stated.
Web3 Future
Shopify is foreseeing a bright future of Web3-based models. Recently, the Canada-based e-commerce giant invested in a London start-up called Thirdweb. Along with Coinbase and Haun Ventures, Shopify helped Thirdweb raise a Serie A funding of $24 million after reaching a valuation of $160M.
NFTs are a part of Web3 products, which also include decentralized autonomous organization (DAOs) and blockchain games. Shopify is helping Thirdweb develop a new Web3 toolkit to provide features like decentralised logins, smart contracts and publishing options. It will not only support blockchains but also attract new users by bringing the Web3 products to mainstream.
Speculations
Not all tech companies believe in the future of Web3. However, Thirdweb believes the speculations won’t affect its business.
“The surprising thing is that the builders have continued building. Our weekly growth activity hasn’t slowed down and has continued to increase. Our hypothesis has been that although there are fluctuations, people who are building projects in the long term will continue regardless of the crypto or macro outlook,” Steven Bartlett, CEO at Thirdweb, said.
According to Bartlett, Shopify is seeing Thridweb not only “as an investment but also a partner”. The London-based startup is also developing an integration for Shopify to enable its merchants showcase web3 products along with other products displayed on their online stores.
“Our mission is to accelerate the next generation of the internet and we believe thirdweb will play a critical role in realizing that,” said Katie Haun, founder and CEO of Haun Ventures, the company that led the Serie A funding round for Thirdweb.
