LimeWire chooses Algorand to host its relaunch as an NFT marketplace

• The imminent LimeWire marketplace would be initially focused on music collectables
• The marketplace chose Algorand for energy efficiency, carbon-negative state, scalability, safety and speed

Following the announcement of its comeback as a mainstream-ready NFT marketplace focused on music collectables last week, LimeWire has now chosen the Algorand blockchain to power the platform.

LimeWire explained that it settled on Algorand for its sustainable blockchain environment. As a PoS chain, Algorand is one of the most environmentally friendly blockchains and became the first carbon-negative chain last year.

Also, as LimeWire intends to offer free minting, Algorand’s performance and scalability will come in handy.

“We have partnered with Algorand as our official blockchain partner. Why Algorand? It’s carbon-negative since 2021. Algorand is scalable, fast and secure, which makes it perfect for NFTs. Consequently, we’ll be able to offer free NFT minting,” LimeWire tweeted.

A native token on the way

Alongside the plans to mint collectables on Algorand, LimeWire also said that it would be releasing a native token sometime this year. The token would include rewards for holders, exclusive community rights, and a voting mechanism.

On its part, Algorand believes that LimeWire is well set to bite off a good chunk of the NFT marketspace, more particularly for the marketplaces’ planned focus on collectables that would feature music-related media.

“We are excited to see LimeWire launching on the Algorand blockchain and see massive potential for them to take the music collectables market by storm. The interest for digital collectables will only be growing, and we are eager to support a global brand like LimeWire entering into the space to help open up the market to the mainstream,” observed Algorand CEO Steven Kokinos.

LimeWire wants to break entry barriers into the space

LimeWire became defunct in 2010 following a spree of legal troubles to do with facilitating users to share copyrighted content.

However, two Austrian investors, Paul and Julian Zehetmayr, who bought LimeWire’s intellectual property last year, are leading the relaunch of the former peer-to-peer music sharing service, now with a focus on onboarding many ‘newbie’ users by enabling better market entry conditions.

These include pricing NFTs in fiat and supporting payments in traditional finance, including credit cards and bank transfers. The whole idea is to defy the current nature of the digital collectables and crypto market niches – welcome a new wave of users outside the currently small bubble.

“If you are an average music fan on the internet, you might not own any cryptocurrency or have access to a crypto wallet, let alone understand the mechanics of collectables on the blockchain. We want to remove all those obstacles and make it easy for people to participate, while at the same time offering an exciting platform for crypto natives,” explained co-CEO Paul Zehetmayr.