eBay to Launch ‘Digital Wallet’, Teases 'Fractionalization'

cryptonews.com:

The e-commerce heavyweight eBay has claimed that it is exploring the option of adding “new forms of payment” and will launch a digital wallet in the second quarter of the financial year – but has stopped short of announcing any crypto pay-related developments. Meanwhile, the company also made note of coming “fractionalization”, which may suggest non-fungible tokens (NFTs), but it makes no mention of them. 

At an Investor Day event, the firm’s Chief Executive Jamie Iannone said that the firm will promote new businesses avenues, including a digital platform named the eBay Vault.

Details of its digital wallet appear to be relatively scant thus far. But there are clues that suggest NFTs could well play a part.

Last year, eBay began allowing users to trade NFTs on its platform. The firm built its trading empire on providing a marketplace for physical collectibles. As such, a “digital wallet” could well be little more than a secure, software-based digital home for credit and debit card information.

But it could also be a wallet capable of storing – and displaying – customer NFTs. A further hint came in a promotional YouTube video entitled “Announcing the eBay Vault.”

Although the video contained no direct mention of crypto or NFTs, in one slide, the firm noted that “in the future,” “fractionalization” would be added.

In the NFT world, fractionalization can refer to the digital ownership of a token, whereby the digital rights of a single NFT are broken up into small pieces – fractions. This makes it possible for more than one person to “own” an individual NFT. If, for instance, Tommy owns half of Rare NFT #1, it is also possible for Judy and Paul to own a quarter each of the same NFT.

A digital wallet could also refer to a software