Amazon's new investment in a collectibles platform could be the beginning of a move into digital collectibles while helping it better understand the potential of blockchain. Amazon invested in Dibbs, a two-sided marketplace that allows collectors to acquire fractional shares in trading cards thanks to NFT technology.
Dibbs announced the investment along with the launch of "Sell With Dibbs" on Thursday. It enticed collectors to "Instantly monetize your trading cards in our fractional markets. Sell as little or as much as you'd like at a fractional premium."
What does that mean? According to FAQs on Dibbs: "Fractionalization is the act of taking NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and dividing ownership of them into fractions for multiple users to own. Dibbs uses tokenized representations of physical sports cards (Card Tokens) to enable instant trades, either for a full Card Token or a fraction of one. These tokens exist and are transferable on the Ethereum blockchain network."
On the one hand, collectors can acquire a share in a collectible trading card. On the other hand, sellers can monetize their collections. Once an owner goes through the process of registering a card, they submit the physical card to Dibbs, which "vaults" it and insures it.
"The card is then fractionalized and added to the user's account for them to fully control sale price, quantity, and cadence. Sellers reap instant and flexible liquidity with the financial benefits of a fractional market - they can sell as much or as little of their card as they want, whenever they want, with a flat, 2.9 percent transaction fee on each fraction sold."
If "vaulting" trading cards sounds familiar, it's because PWCC also vaults trading cards for collectors. A major difference: PWCC allows owners to sell their physical cards through auctions - with no digital "fractionalization," as far as we understand.
Interestingly, PWCC had been a major seller on eBay until the latter accused it of shill bidding earlier this year.
Evan Vandenberg, cofounder of Dibbs, tweeted yesterday, "Proud of the @dibbs_io team & excited to grow our business as a 2-sided marketplace and begin to truly bridge the physical/digital divide.#NFT #collectibles. Also, it's pretty damn cool to welcome @amazon to the fam. Thrilled to see what we can do together."
Vandenberg explained how Dibbs worked in an appearance on YouTube channel "Sports Card Investor" on February 28, 2021, where the host was enthralled with the concept of "a digital asset that is physically-backed."
Given eBay's expertise in sports trading cards, it's surprising it let Amazon take the lead in the space. We're eager to hear what sellers think about Amazon's move into collectibles.
Wow, just think someday you might be able to own a digital piece of the Mona Lisa.
I'm so excited . . .not
Can Amazon Win in the Digital Collectibles Space?
by: Snapped
Fri Dec 3 17:52:22 2021
No matter how esoterically wrapped by a stupendously long and technically carbon voracious algorithm, in the end, 200,000 years of human evolution and technology advances still relies on SOME tangible thingy upon which to come to any agreement on value.
In the case f NFTs, one trades ‘art’ for ‘gold’ as the commodity of choice for that thingy, a password for a vault, and bytes for the handshake and transportability.
Then sit back and hope the ‘desirability’ of the ‘thingy’ doesn’t plummet with changing tastes. Or the power grid doesn’t fizzle. Or you don’t forget your password. Or you’re not hacked by some 13yr old prodigy with free wi-fi and an afternoon to kill. Or your logo of choice doesn’t become another ‘Betamax’ in the Bitcoin brand wars and evaporate into the ether.
Can Amazon Win in the Digital Collectibles Space?
by: Chris ZeroOne
Mon Dec 6 08:58:48 2021
Progress always looks like this. Glad to see some seeing the massive opportunity in the digital goods space. Like each space to come before it, existing gorillas will try to monopolize it, while downplaying the risk it poses. Laggards will wrestle with selling shoddy rebranded crap from Wish until they realize the generational shift in preferences passed them by.
@toolguy - blue chip art valuation has outpaced the S&P by 250% in the last 40 years. Further analysis shows it dips far less in recessive economies. @snapped - careful not to conflate your bias against crypto with tokenized ownership - apples v oranges
Can Amazon Win in the Digital Collectibles Space?
by: Snapped
Mon Dec 6 10:10:29 2021
It’s about open eyes, Chris, not bias, and the fact that “generational shift” associated with ‘modernizing’, for all that, it is still simply replacing the ‘elements’ of a transaction. But at greater risk compared to that existing. That’s labeled “progress” sure - it always has been. One day, in retrospect then, it probably will be.
And yes, clearly one can acquire tokens with more conventional payment means, and likely will as a majority for quite awhile longer yet. Nevertheless, the ‘tangible’ thing tokenized will still exist in the same volatile technology form encompassed in an essentially same ‘formulae’ as what may eventually become the payment mechanism and valuation basis. So that’s the similarity expressed that may be perceived as an unintended conflation. TY for the highlight.
Can Amazon Win in the Digital Collectibles Space?
by: BargainzBabylon
Mon Dec 6 18:33:41 2021
Read about The Tulip Craze in the book "The Madness of Crowds" and hope the digital version doesn't end up the same way.
Can Amazon Win in the Digital Collectibles Space?
by: toolguy
Tue Dec 14 10:09:54 2021
Crypto is worthless to those without cell phones!
No power no $$$$$$
I still like Gold & Silver
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Can Amazon Win in the Digital Collectibles Space?
by: toolguy 