Last week on Benzinga’s “Moon or Bust” crypto livestream, co-hosts Ryan McNamara and Logan Ross interviewed Akos Balogh and Chanteva Schoch, serial entrepreneurs and co-founders of Colle Marketplace –– a Web3 start up for luxury collectors.
Colle announced plans to accrue $15 million in digital inventory for its luxury marketplace exclusively with Benzinga. Colle plans to bootstrap its digital inventory with NFTs representing luxury goods, focusing on high-end watches upon launch.
The Colle marketplace is a Web3 startup designed for luxury collectors. The purpose of Colle is to integrate traditional collectibles with the digital world in a way that empowers sellers and protects buyers.
Balogh believes that in the current gift economy, sellers lack protection and power. Centralized middleman services possess too much control, and time and time again they have failed to implement effective strategies to reduce fraud activity and authenticate goods.
Schoch explains, “We believe that in Web2 marketplaces, sellers don’t have a say; they feel like they’re never heard; they don’t have protections; and fraud activity is still high. People aren’t ready for a fully decentralized platform, but we’re guiding them, making the process of minting NFTs educational, and helping people understand what they can do with Web3.”
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Colle aims to build a platform that allows users to buy and trade goods in a fully decentralized manner. By leveraging NFTs, buyers will be able to confidently purchase verified goods from sellers all across the world. In other words, NFTs will verify proofs of authenticity and ownership of physical goods, such as luxury watches and handbags, on Ethereum’s (CRYPTO: ETH) blockchain.
Colle plans to use Ethereum at launch, and it is exploring other chains to operate on in tandem. While it is true that Ethereum has relatively high gas fees compared to other blockchains, Akos believes that this isn’t a significant problem given that Colle is positioned to penetrate the high-value, luxury segment of the gift economy.
Balogh summarized his motives, “It’s all about community; we’re all collectors. My friends are all collectors. It’s a $300 billion market, and Colle has a great chance at catching today’s hype as people are turning to Web3.”
Colle and many others believe that the current luxury goods market is inefficient and rather centralized around eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY), StockX and a few other incompatible applications. Colle aims to leverage blockchain to make sellers and buyers reputations a streamlined, public good.
