Shopify Launches Comprehensive Blockchain Suite for Merchants

by Arthur · February 11, 2023

E-commerce giant Shopify has launched its new blockchain suite of products for sellers. This development is expected to improve the user experience of web3-based stores hosted on Shopify. In addition, merchants can use token gating and leverage new features in the expanded wallet ecosystem.

Blockchain Suite brings great benefits to Shopify users

According to Shopify’s blockchain team, designer ryancreatescopy on Twitter, merchants can use new tools to build token gating apps on the e-commerce platform. Token gating is a common feature in the Web3 space and is a verification method for communities to grant exclusive access to certain events, content, and drops.

It is seen as a way to create exclusivity for token holders and allows NFT creators to grant access to specific token holders. In the case of Shopify, merchants can change their store layout to determine which exclusive products are available to certain token holders.

To enable this feature, they need to add a token gate app to their stores and decide which products, collections or events are available to specific token holders.

Token gating has been in beta mode since June 2022 and was previously only available to a select number of users. With this latest development, any Shopify store owner can access this tool to improve their customer experience.

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Furthermore, Spotify has extended the crypto wallet linking function by integrating the Ethereum (SIWE) protocol. Login with Ethereum is a standardized way for ERC-20 token holders and ENS domain owners to secure logins without giving their private identifiers to third-party data collectors.

This integration is in line with Shopify’s recent issues regarding the privacy of users’ data. Earlier in 2022, the e-commerce giant faced a class-action lawsuit following the hardware wallet vendor’s high-profile Ledger data leak.

Merchants can now access this unique login feature to ensure customers can easily login to their wallet. In addition, they can use the declaration generator, which allows customization of message declarations for a better user experience.

This integration was further outlined by ENS Labs lawyer Sadaf.eth in a chirping which explains how to use the tool in Shopify stores. Additionally, the blockchain suite includes tools and services to help merchants manage blockchain assets, such as digital wallets and smart contracts. With the blockchain suite, Shopify intends to help merchants make the most of the opportunities that distributed ledger technology offers.

Shopify continues to advocate for blockchain solutions

Shopify has a history of integrating blockchain solutions into its platform to improve payment processing, security and scalability. In 2019, Shopify added bitcoin lightning payments for merchants enabling affordable, fast payments for their customers.

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Since then, it has partnered with several blockchain platforms, such as CoinPayments and OpenBazaar, to add features such as automatic merchant pay and secure customer authentication. It has also integrated blockchain technology into its point-of-sale and e-commerce systems to facilitate seamless transactions.

Finally, Shopify is exploring new blockchain technologies and developing its solutions with its partnership with Hedera Hashgraph and Consensys.