The Web3 world could soon see e-commerce giant Amazon launching an NFT marketplace as soon as April 24, according to reports from Coingape and Benzinga, following rumors that have been circulating since January.

The marketplace will be called either “Amazon NFT Marketplace” or “Amazon Digital Marketplace” and is said to feature 15 initial NFT collections available for purchase through a user’s Amazon account and credit card.

While Amazon has not yet confirmed the launch or the release date, this move is not out of the blue for the company, whose AWS arm has been investing in blockchain technologies as early as 2008.

The report said that Amazon has not indicated any plans to integrate cryptocurrency payments into the platform at this time. However, the company has previously announced partnerships with cryptocurrency-related companies like Ava Labs behind the popular token AVAX as well as Chainlink, indicating its interest in accelerating its blockchain initiatives.

“I expect that NFTs will continue to grow very significantly. We’re not probably close to adding crypto as a payment mechanism in our retail business, but I do believe over time that you’ll see crypto become bigger and—it’s possible [that Amazon ingrates crypto payments],” shared the company’s CEO Andy Jassy in a Squawkbox interview from 2022.

Amazon has also had a recent job posting for a “Web3 global program manager,” calling for someone to assist with its Web3 ambitions for AWS. According to the job description, the candidate will focus on “creating and overseeing programs and mechanisms… and drive Web3 initiatives that will shape the overall future growth of the Web3 business.”

Launching an NFT marketplace without a crypto option or the necessity to have a crypto wallet could be a use case study to see if it onboards more people to the Web3 space — similar to Reddits approach with its free Polygon-based ”digital collectibles.”

With OpenSea losing traction lately due to royalty standard shifts, and aggregators like Blur capturing more market share, Amazon is entering into a very volatile market and how it approaches the launch could see either great success or the target missed — like in the instance of Coinbase NFT.

A marketplace could just be the start for the retail giant, however, with other possibilities including gaming offerings through its live-streaming platform Twitch. Additionally, Amazon Prime is also stepping into the world of Web3, by investing millions into the creative brand SuperPlastic for an upcoming animated series.

While there are those in Web3 who would like to see new players come along and build the future of the space, Amazon committing further to this next era of the internet could turn out to be a catalyst for increased adoption and advance the acceleration of the underlying tech. At the time of writing, a majority of claims are simply speculation, with dates and details yet to be confirmed.

In other news, Ethereum announces a new wallet standard that assists in asset recovery.