All Shopify merchants can now use Venly’s Avalanche app to mint and sell NFTs without writing any code
There is no need for Shopify’s millions of merchants to direct customers to a specialized marketplace like Magic Eden or OpenSea if they want to sell NFTs. Instead, they can use one of Shopify’s blockchain apps to mint and list NFTs through their existing storefront. Those NFTs can now be issued on Avalanche thanks to Venly.
Today, the Shopify NFT minting app of the blockchain technology startup Venly announced the expansion of Avalanche support. Previously only available to select Shopify users, the layer-1 blockchain platform, which is touted as a faster and less expensive alternative to the leading NFT platform Ethereum, is now available to any Shopify merchant.
According to the company, Shopify is a significant e-commerce platform that powers the online storefronts of millions of sellers worldwide. CEO Tobi Lütke is a proponent of Web3 and also sits on the Coinbase board of directors.
According to Venly, purchasers will not be required to handle cryptocurrency and will not be required to have an existing Avalanche wallet in order to purchase an NFT. Instead, they can pay with fiat currency (like a credit card) and receive a link to a brand-new Avalanche wallet containing the newly minted NFT, which they can then move to another location if they so choose.
Venly, a company that also provides solutions for blockchain wallets and was established in 2018, is one of several blockchain app partners that are integrated into the Shopify ecosystem. In the past, other partners have offered users tools to mint NFTs on blockchain platforms like Ethereum and Flow.
Venly’s co-founder and CEO, Tim Dierckxsens, told Decrypt that the company initially offered NFT minting tools to artists and brands on Shopify. However, it soon realized that there was a growing demand for a straightforward, no-code tool that any seller could use to create NFTs. He stated that Venly was commissioned by Shopify to create an application for its merchants to facilitate streamlined NFT sales to mainstream users.
According to Dierckxsens, who spoke with Decrypt, “I believe it’s one of the biggest evolutions [for NFTs] where this can be taken to a mass market” and “you don’t need to understand the necessity of crypto to make the purchase.”
Through Venly, Shopify merchants can sell NFT collectibles, provide NFT token-gated experiences, or connect NFTs to physical products for authentication, among other possible applications. Dierckxsens is also of the opinion that creators and artists have a lot of potentials to sell NFTs through social media channels that can link to or integrate with Shopify stores.
In a press release, Shopify Blockchain Ecosystem Lead Christina Lomazzo stated, “Our growing blockchain ecosystem demonstrates our commitment to supporting merchants as they sell NFTs directly through their storefronts, helping to further grow participation in Web3 and expand what’s possible in commerce.”
In late 2021, Venly made its Shopify NFT minting tool available for the first time on the Ethereum scaling network Polygon. Dierckxsens stated that Venly intends to add support for NFTs minted through Hedera and the Ethereum scaling network Immutable X in the future. Avalanche is the second network to be supported.
He explained to Decrypt that the intention is to concentrate on Ethereum layer-2 networks and layer-1 platforms with low gas fees for customers. Even though they don’t appear to swing as violently as they did during the initial NFT buying frenzy of 2021, Ethereum’s main net gas fees can be expensive and vary widely.
Dierckxsens stated, “You cannot sell a mass-market item and expect end users to pay approximately $20 to $100 in transaction fees.”
Despite the relatively low NFT trading volume on the platform—about $1.2 million in December, according to CryptoSlam data—Avalanche has seen an increase in NFT adoption over the past year. OpenSea, a leading NFT marketplace, added Avalanche NFT support in October as Web3 gaming on the platform grows in 2022.
