LimeWire, a long-defunct file-sharing program that was formerly known for unlawful MP3 downloads with erroneous tags, has reappeared as an NFT marketplace. Two Austrian entrepreneurs have spent the previous two years purchasing the LimeWire brand, which will be relaunched as a new platform in May. After a lawsuit brought by a collection of record companies found LimeWire guilty of copyright infringement, the firm was shut down at the end of 2010.
Despite having no connection to the former LimeWire team other than the name, the new LimeWire CEOs, who are brothers, are hopeful that their fondness for the once-popular P2P network would give them an advantage in the NFT rat race.“It’s a very iconic name. Even if you look on Twitter today, there are hundreds of people still being nostalgic about the name,” one of the CEOs, Julian Zehetmayr, told Bloomberg. “Everybody connects it with music and we’re launching initially a very music-focused marketplace, so the brand was the perfect fit for that with its legacy.”
The other CEO, Paul Zehetmayr, said: “After about 12 years of the platform being down, all the controversy that might have been in the past with the music industry has turned into nostalgia.”
The new LimeWire will function as a marketplace for buying and selling music-related non-fungible tokens, with users able to pay in either US dollars or bitcoin. According to the CEOs, 10 “very large mainstream” singers have agreed to offer exclusive NFTs on the LimeWire marketplace so far. (Wu-Tang Clan and H.E.R., both of whom have members of their management teams on the LimeWire advisory board, might be involved.)
LimeWire chooses Algorand to Relaunch of its Digital Collectibles Marketplace (Updated 15 March 2022)
LimeWire stated today that the Algorand blockchain would be used to enable the relaunch of its digital collectibles marketplace. The first carbon-negative blockchain, Algorand, has emerged as the preferred network for energy-efficient NFT marketplaces and the Web3 creative economy. LimeWire wants to introduce a token later this year that will provide token holders with unique community access, voting procedures, and a reward system, in addition to minting digital products on Algorand.
LimeWire promises to make onboarding for new NFT customers as easy as possible, including a straightforward signup procedure, seamless KYC, and prices in US dollars. Customers will be able to purchase collectibles directly by credit card, bank transfer, and other fiat gateways, without the need for a crypto wallet, thanks to a solid partnership with payment provider Wyre. The marketplace itself is designed to give the normal consumer with an intuitive, cutting-edge user experience as well as a more natural and familiar feel.
