OpenSea is a decentralized non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace for buying, selling and trading NFTs. In fact, OpenSea calls itself the largest marketplace for digital products. As such, it's worth taking a closer look at OpenSea and what the platform adds to NFT trading. Also, this article explains how to use OpenSea, as well as what NFTs are. The difference between Fungible Tokens and NFTs is that they have unique characteristics and identifiers and are not interchangeable. Another way to think about them is that NFTs represent things, not coins.
In this article, we will discuss:
What is OpenSea?
OpenSea is a marketplace for buyers and sellers of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The NFT landscape has evolved rapidly since 2017 and now NFTs are more commonly used to represent audio, video and images. Its digitally owned properties are well suited for creating and selling digital art, collectibles, game items and event tickets, with increasingly sophisticated apps yet to come.
On OpenSea, all types of NFT can be bought and sold. Think eBay for digital art and collectibles. What sets OpenSea apart from its main rivals – NiftyGateway and Superrare – is its simplicity. The average user can easily create NFTs to sell. This proved to be an attraction to the platform and a key factor in user adoption.
People can not only buy and sell art, but also see how their personal creations do on the open market. NFT markets provide a very immediate way of establishing a relationship between buyer and seller. An artist can try out their work and see if it has market value. Buyers may purchase these NFT products because they like the artwork, see the investment potential, or want to support the artist, among other uses.
Also, OpenSea's interface is clear, which is not always the case with many NFT sites. Coining your own NFTs is intuitive enough and there are a number of parameters you can play around with. Variable royalty rates on subsequent sales in the secondary market provide the potential for passive income. As an NFT creator, you can choose to receive a percentage rate for any future sales. An overly greedy breeder, however, can stifle sales.
Another feature is the unlockable content, essentially hidden data, just for the eyes of the buyer. There are certain gaming apps for this, but its potential remains untapped.
Is OpenSea Multi-Chain?
Another positive aspect of OpenSea is its willingness to use multiple cryptography and multiple chains. You can price your items in any cryptocurrency you want, as long as it's on the blockchain from Ethereum. In the future, OpenSea will make it possible to trade NFTs on the Flow and Tezos blockchains. Speaking on the Unchained podcast, OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer said, “Some things are not immediately interoperable. We can support everything eventually, but we measure things by how much demand there is from users. He added, “Our belief is that we will live in a world with many chains in the coming years. It won't just be a single chain that dominates everything. It's going to be a little confusing for a while. ”
What is available on OpenSea?
OpenSea has several different categories, which shows the diversity of the NFT space. OpenSea is a great NFT player, especially as it contains:
- Arte – Beeple, FEWOCiOUS and Trevor Jones sold their pieces through the OpenSea platform. This was one of the first NFT markets for digital artists.
- Music – like The Weeknd, Richie Hawtin and RAC have released exclusive NFTs.
- Domain Names - Censorship resistant blockchain domains such as Unstoppable Domains, Ethereum Name Service (ENS) and Decentraland Names can be purchased as NFTs.
- Virtual worlds – NFTs Decentraland, Sandbox , Arcona are listed.
- Collectible cards – Sorare, Gods Unchained, $MEME can be found in this category.
- Collectibles - Cryptokitties, Cryptopunks, Hashmasks. Full spectrum.
- Sports - A recent exclusive partnership with Rob Gronkowski made him one of the first athletes to launch his own NFT collection. OpenSea said it may have more athletes for this type of partnership in the future.
- Usefulness – these NFT tokens can function as redeemable rewards or membership NFTs, but more uses will be developed in the future.
How does OpenSea make money?
OpenSea earns money with a standard 2,5% transaction placed on all sales from its platform. Unlike other platforms, there is no additional charge for shoppers. OpenSea is generally cheaper than other platforms, some of which charge up to 7,5% per sale.
OpenSea vs. Superrare: What's the difference?
Technically speaking, any NFT you can buy or sell on Superrare can also be bought and sold on OpenSea, but there are some differences between the two.
While OpenSea is a hotspot for NFTs, attracting all visitors, Superrare has built a reputation as a marketplace for a more sophisticated digital art scene that also focuses on exclusive collections. If you're selling an NFT, Superrare will charge you for listing, while OpenSea will only charge you for the sale. Both are built on the Ethereum network and Opensea allows you to pass the gas charge on to the first buyer if you wish.
Is OpenSea centralized?
Devin Finzer, CEO of OpenSea, said they are not gatekeepers and do not wish to censor peer-to-peer transactions in their market. Despite this, the market clearly maintains its authority in a centralized manner. Fraudulent Cryptokitties and Cypherpunks will be removed along with all other copyrighted material. Finzer said that a Silk Road-type market will be a possibility in the future, but it is not a path his team wants to take.
Its policies were put to the test this year when Matthew Hickey of security firm Hacker House raised questions about how much freedom to buy and sell users should have. Hickey posted information, supported by an NFT, about a vulnerability in the Quake 3 first-person shooter engine. The NFT buyer could cause a denial of service for the gaming network. Perhaps unsurprisingly, OpenSea stepped in and pulled out the NFT, denying any sales on its platform. OpenSea's move caused a controversy of its own. The blockchain community does not accept censorship, and the indication of centralization in the NFT markets was once again discussed. Hickey responded to the drop by saying: “I don't think there should be any restrictions on the type of digital asset someone should be able to sell, I believe the current NFT centralized exchange model should become decentralized to allow direct peers to transfer peer-to-peer -point of such assets if the technology is to actually change the concepts of IP, copyright, digital rights management and other digital rights, as it has the potential to disrupt.”
If OpenSea has the ability to step in and control sales and purchases on the site, is it really the decentralized protocol that many in the blockchain community are looking for? Hickey NFT also came on the back of the March 2021 NiftyGateway hack. The NFT Marketplace accessed its users' NiftyGateway wallets to track down some of the stolen NFT artwork and return them to their rightful owners. This was good news for the owners, but another warning for those who want decentralization. It remains to be seen whether we will ever see a truly decentralized market. There is a question whether this is possible, especially considering that these markets have responsibilities to many different actors in the NFT ecosystem.
What is the future of OpenSea?
OpenSea's recent funding round was led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and included investments from companies such as Kevin Durant and Ashton Kutcher. There is a lot of support and usage – OpenSea is consistently in the top five in the DApp market on DappRadar . But there is also a lot of competition in the industry, which is just getting started. Devin Finzer himself shows no concern for the competition, commenting in Unchained that the current buzz of the NFT is "a rising tide lifting all boats." The future of NFTs is really open, and there's no telling who will succeed over time.
Expansion to other blockchain networks such as Tezos, Klaytn and Flow in the coming months could bring in new users and make OpenSea lead the way in interoperability between NFT chains. It can also ensure that OpenSea will be involved in whichever direction the NFTs take. “It's getting a lot more interesting than one-off art sales,” said Devin Finzer. “The art is still pretty cool, but crypto games, event tickets, domain names, those kinds of use cases, I'm excited.”
Conclusion
OpenSea is a good place to start for beginners who want to create their own NFTs at a low cost and with very little difficulty. People continue to use the site and transact despite high gas rates and the ups and downs of the market. OpenSea is well positioned as a market leader and positioning itself as a platform for a multi-chain world.
More information about OpenSea
