Canon USA, the American division of the global camera and imaging giant, launches an Ethereum NFT marketplace dedicated to photography later this year. The marketplace, called Cadabra, will offer tokenized photographs across various categories such as wildlife, sports, lifestyle, and landscapes, among others.
Cadabra will debut later in 2023 after an initial preview at the NFT NYC conference. It will feature both initial drops of photo collections and a secondary marketplace for reselling the NFTs. Participating artists will also have the option to offer physical prints of the images that Canon will fulfill.
Although Canon has not yet announced which photographers will be featured on the platform, it previously launched a series of photo NFTs on Solana in July 2022 in collaboration with Immutable Image. The Solana-based collection included tokenized shots from renowned photographers such as Sam Abell, Barbara Bordnick, Melvin Sokolsky, and Joyce Tenneson.
Cadabra will initially launch only in the United States and will accept payments in both credit/debit cards and cryptocurrencies. Canon’s foray into the photo NFT space comes as the market gains traction, with photographers such as Justin Aversano and Isaac “Drift” Wright amassing highly valuable collections. Other dedicated photo NFT platforms include Quantum Art and Sloika.
As a Tokyo-based firm known for its consumer and professional-grade products, including cameras, printers, scanners, and medical equipment, Canon’s entry into the NFT space reflects the growing interest in Web3 technologies and the evolving landscape of digital art and photography. With Cadabra, Canon aims to provide a curated marketplace for photographers and collectors to engage with NFTs in a new and innovative way, further exploring the potential of blockchain technology in the world of photography.
