Circle is rolling out a payments solution for NFT marketplaces

Peer-to-peer payments company Circle has announced a payments solution for non-fungible token (NFT) marketplaces and vendors.

The goal of the service is to enable such platforms to accept credit card payments in addition to crypto, the firm announced Thursday. 

According to the announcement, NFT marketplaces and vendors can now offer buyers the choice of transacting via traditional or crypto payments using Circle's NFT solution by building on the firm's Payments, Payouts, and Digital Dollar Accounts APIs. 

The firm's solution is designed to incentivize more NFT transactions as well as make the process more seamless for buyers. 

“This is not only an important and valuable trend for marketplaces and creators, it represents incredible demand from consumers – for collectibles, artwork, moments, and really anything that can be tokenized on the blockchain,” said Circle co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire. “People are very much ready for digital collectibles, and Circle looks forward to supporting the industry.”

According to the announcement, Circle is also releasing additional features in the next few months, including support for USDC, BTC, and ETH payments as well as NFT custodial services.

The launch is another sign that a growing number of crypto businesses are seeking to take advantage of interest around NFTs, which are effectively tokenized certificates that represent rights or ownership of digital works. Investors from Andreessen Horowitz to Paradigm are investing in platforms that cater to NFT producers and collectors, and mainstream media companies like the New York Times are experimenting with the form in a public way.