NFTglee Launches NFT Auction Platform On Liquid Bitcoin Sidechain

NFTglee has announced the launch of an NFT auction platform built on Bitcoin’s Liquid sidechain.

Non-fungible token (NFT) platform NFTglee has announced the May 24 launch of an NFT auction platform that leverages Blockstream’s federated Bitcoin sidechain, Liquid.

NFTs can be used to certify the individuality of a digital asset, like a piece of digital art, using blockchain technology. To date, NFTs have almost exclusively been recorded on the Ethereum blockchain, though Blockstream just launched its own NFT marketplace on Liquid. However, the Bitcoin blockchain offers many advantages over Ethereum’s, particularly in its security and fee structures, which has motivated this launch from NFTglee.

“Working with developers to find solutions to the ever-growing limitations associated with Ethereum-based platforms, NFTglee founders turned to the most efficient and environmentally friendly solution available to them and the crypto community — Bitcoin,” according to a press release from NFTglee shared with Bitcoin Magazine.

The release explained that the platform would employ atomic swaps, a method for exchanging coins on different blockchains, to convert any cryptocurrencies used into bitcoin as a way to avoid the fees that power Ethereum, known as “gas fees.”

“The NFTglee platform will employ atomic swaps for any and all cryptocurrencies, instantly turning the transaction into bitcoin. Again, the fees associated with this process are virtual pennies compared to Ethereum gas fees found on competing NFT platforms,” per the release.

As a federated Bitcoin sidechain, Liquid enables platforms like this to leverage the L-BTC token as if it were on-chain bitcoin, though with significant intermediary tradeoffs. Its network of federated members, or functionaries, manages a verifiable amount of on-chain BTC that serves as the equivalent for the L-BTC being used in a two-way peg.

“Our solution is a second layer sidechain via the Liquid Network (L-BTC),” said Tillman Holloway, the cofounder and CEO of NFTglee, in the release. “Transactions are not settled through a proof-of-work protocol or through miners. This allows us to mint and transfer NFTs orders of magnitude more efficiently. As it stands, the transactions on our platform will have less environmental impact than the swipe of a credit card.”