LimeWire is Being Relaunched… As An NFT Marketplace

After shutting down in 2010, LimeWire is back and set to relaunch as an NFT marketplace under new owners Julian and Paul Zehetmayr.

Former peer-to-peer file sharing database LimeWire is returning as a NFT marketplace in May. Under the ownership of Austrian brothers and businessmen Julian and Paul Zehetmayr, LimeWire will offer trading of nonfungible tokens, or NFTs.

The brothers acquired the platform in 2021, a little over a decade after LimeWire closed down over allegations from Recording Industry Association of America about music piracy. The revival of LimeWire will focus on music, allowing users to purchase and trade rare items including unreleased demos, limited editions, and digital merchandise.

“The issue with the NFT market is that most platforms are decentralized,” Julian told CNBC. “If you look at bitcoin, all the exchanges are making it really easy to buy, trade and sell bitcoin. There’s no one really doing the same in the NFT space.”

“We’ve obviously got this great mainstream brand that everybody’s nostalgic about,” he added. “We thought we needed to build a real mainstream user experience as well.”

Rather than using crypto, prices on LimeWire will be listed in USD and tokens can be purchased using credit cards. The platform’s payment functionality is in partnership with start-up Wyre. The Zehetmayrs also plan to sell the LimeWire token to select investors before holding a public sale in the future. With the token, holders will have the ability to vote on changes to LimeWire policies and which artists are featured on music charts.

“We’re trying to be a more mature platform and professionalize everything, just like Coinbase or other exchanges would do for crypto assets,” Julian said.