Last edited: Jan 18, 2022

Walmart is planning to launch its own cryptocurrency and NFT marketplace, based on trademark filings first discovered by CNBC’s reporters.

The big-box retailer filed several new trademarks on Dec. 30, 2021, indicating its intent to make and sell virtual goods, including toys, sporting goods, personal care products, electronics, music instruments, and home decorations. To accompany its intent to sell virtual goods, it would offer its users a proprietary cryptocurrency, assumed to accommodate with trades of virtual goods, as well as NFTs to authenticate the purchases of these virtual goods.

Walmart is the latest international retailer to move into the crypto space. Before Walmart, Nike, Gap, Under Armour, and Adidas have all been debuting trademark applications and NFT launches. In particular, Under Armour and Adidas’ NFTs have sold out quickly, and are fetching sky-high prices on OpenSea, the largest NFT marketplace.

CB Insights reported on the trend of retailers moving into the virtual space, highlighting the biggest factor being the potential for the Metaverse to create new revenue streams for these corporations.

Launching NFTs allows for businesses to tokenize physical products and services to help reduce online transaction costs, it said. Luxury brands care about NFTs, especially, since they serve as a virtual form of authentication for tangible, expensive luxury products, and they prevent customers from purchasing counterfeit products from third-party resellers.

Walmart declined to disclose details on its specific plans with cryptocurrency and the NFT marketplace, but did issue a statement to CNBC, saying that Walmart is “continuously exploring how emerging technologies may shape future shopping experiences,” and that they are “testing new ideas all the time. Some ideas become products or services that make it to customers. And some we test, iterate, and learn from.”

It seems like it is not all set in stone yet, in terms of Walmart’s plan to expand to the virtual realm. However, getting more involvement in the crypto space is a win-win for both retailers and crypto enthusiasts alike, as the participation of these large corporations will likely bring in never-before-seen traffic and demand for cryptocurrencies in the near future.

The news of Walmart did not affect crypto prices in any significant way, as all coins are down over the course of Monday.

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