Uniswap acquires NFT marketplace aggregator Genie – TechCrunch

The past few weeks have been a dark time for NFT lovers and players in the cryptocurrency industry, but for startups and executives that are dug into the vision of a crypto future, it’s also been an opportunity to double down.

Uniswap has announced this week that it has made a new purchase buying up NFT marketplace aggregator GenieUnknown amount. The purchase was made by Uniswap — the startup — which has raised million in funding from firms like Andreessen Horowitz and Paradigm to help build Uniswap — the decentralized exchange protocol.

Users know Uniswap is a decentralized way of swapping a variety tokens. The acquisition will add non-fungible tokens. Genie provides access to the NFTs library across marketplaces. Users can trade NFTs across most platforms. Uniswap’s team say they will be using the product to build a Uniswap NFT vertical into their platform, which will launch this fall.

The company’s bet on NFT aggregation is a bet on the diversification of NFT marketplaces over time. OpenSea currently holds the majority of NFT volume, but competitors such as Magic Eden and LooksRare are starting to take some of their market share. Coinbase appears to have mismanaged the rollout of their NFT marketplace early on, suggesting that OpenSea might be a tough market leader to replace.

The timing of the acquisition is important because the future of NFT trading volumes has been put into doubt as the wider crypto market has crashed. While transaction volumes for the month have decreased slightly, NFT purchases in USD have dropped by more than 66%, according to the report. DappRadar.

Subscribe to TechCrunch’s crypto newsletter “Chain Reaction” for news, funding updates and hot takes on the wild world of web3 — and take a listen to our companion podcast!