Salesforce has taken a leap into the crypto space with the pilot launch of NFT Cloud, its platform for creating and selling NFTs.

The new platform will allow Salesforce customers to “mint”, manage and sell these blockchain assets on the Salesforce Customer 360 Platform and securely connect customer data. The CRM company said this will help businesses get a “360-degree view across a customer’s physical and digital worlds”.

NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are unique digital files with ownership recorded and verified using blockchain technology. After a surge in interest last year, the NFT market surpassed an estimated $40bn in value.

Salesforce said that NFTs have unlocked new ways to engage with customers, through exclusive deals, early access to product drops and community membership options for NFT owners. The company said many possible use cases are being explored.

In February, CNBC reported that Salesforce employees were told about the plans to launch an NFT Cloud platform at an online event.

Following this, more than 400 employees signed an open letter protesting the decision, raising both environmental and economic concerns around NFTs, Thomas Reuters Foundation News reported.

The open letter was reportedly shared among internal messaging channels and referred to NFTs as “unregulated, highly speculative financial assets”.

Salesforce said sustainability issues are being addressed as the technology evolves, as the company believes upcoming “proof-of-stake” blockchains reduce the energy consumption by 99pc, compared to the proof-of-work algorithms used in blockchains such as bitcoin and ethereum.

“At Salesforce, we have an opportunity to lead with our values, and shape positive norms and benchmarks for using NFT and blockchain technology sustainably,” the company says on its website. “That’s why our NFT Cloud pilot will not support proof-of-work blockchains.”

Other companies have been taking steps this year to capitalise on the growing NFT market. At the end of March, Visa launched a creator programme to help groups such as artists and musicians scale their businesses through the creation and selling of NFTs.

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