OpenSea Review: Most popular NFT marketplace

07.04.2022

Earlier in the articles, we talked about what NFT is in simple terms, and also gave examples of the best collections in the history of the NFT community. If at this stage your interest has only increased, then today we will talk about marketplaces. Namely, we will review OpenSea.

This is the first NFT marketplace launched in 2017. Subsequently at the beginning of 2022, the platform holds the global leadership in the market of non-fungible tokens: in January 2022, the monthly trading volume on the platform reached $3.5 billion and broke its August record of $3.42 billion.

Also OpenSea review shows: in 2021, the marketplace provided 88% of the global NFT trading volume, and at the beginning of January 2022 attracted $300 million in investments from crypto venture funds Coatue and Paradigm . Since then, OpenSea ‘s valuation has reached $13.3 billion.

What you need to know about OpenSea?

The platform operates on the principles of a decentralized community (DAO): cryptocurrency wallets, addresses and assets are controlled by the users themselves. Marketplace Protocol Supports Blockchain Ethereum , Polygon , Klaytn Blockchain and Solana .

The OpenSea protocol uses ERC721 and ERC1155 standard NFT tokens (for collections). You can pay for purchases with any ERC20 tokens. You can buy NFT with a bank card through the MoonPay service .

A feature of marketplace is a wide range of categories. Popular categories include art, sports, trading cards, and projects from famous artists. Also on the site you can buy NFT in the form of audio, a domain name or a 3D object. This is the key advantage why we started review marketplaces with OpenSea.

History of OpenSea development

In 2017 the founders of OpenSea Devin Finzer and Alex Atalla worked on the Wificoin project at venture capital fund Y Combinator. True, having felt the prospects of NFT, already being part of the accelerator, they decided to change the direction of the company’s work, and began to develop Opensea. It was a very risky step – NFTs were still in their infancy, and few believed in their prospects. But not only Devin and Alex saw the idea as promising. At the same time, the main competitor of OpenSea appears – Rare bits. The review for OpenSea was not optimistic.

After the growth stage in Y Combinator OpenSea managed to raise $2 million for development, and Rare Bits raises $6M as competitors beat Open Sea at the start. But in 2018, OpenSea beat the opponent.

How to register on OpenSea?

This is a very important chapter in the OpenSea Review. Register on marketplace by connecting a digital wallet to the marketplace. By defaultthe platform offers to use a crypto wallet Metamask , but there are other options to choose from.

Supported wallets

OpenSea supports the following wallets:

Metamask;
Coinbase;
wallet connect;
Fortmatic;
Kaikas;
Bitski;
Venly;
Dapper;
Authereum;
Torus;
Portis;
Opera Touch (mobile only);
Trust Wallet (mobile only).

How to buy NFT on OpenSea?

Of course, and this main one is the key one in the review of OpenSea.

Go to the site OpenSea.io;
We create an account by connecting a digital wallet to the site, or we enter an existing account;
Add ETH to the selected wallet (if you have connected only one wallet, it will be the only one in the list). The platform allows you to transfer ERC-20 standard cryptocurrency to your wallet from another wallet/exchange or buy it with a debit card;
In the Explorer section , find the NFT collection you want to buy. OpenSea has the largest overview of collections.
Click on its image or name;
A window with information about the project will open. In the Items section, by filters, you can find a token for purchase, and in the Activity section, you can analyze the sales of the entire collection as a whole;
Next, select NFT for purchase;
A window will open with information about NFT, statistics and previous owners;
To buy a token, you need to click Place Bid or Buy now;
In the form that opens, you will need to enter the payment amount or set the rate. You will also need to accept the terms of the platform by clicking on the checkbox ;
Next, the system will redirect you to the wallet, where you will need to confirm the transaction by entering your private key or seed phrase. At this stage, you can still cancel the payment;
Once the transaction is confirmed, marketplace will display the NFTs you purchased in your account dashboard.

A platform user can buy NFT in two ways: using the Place command Bid (if buying an object at auction) or Buy Now (if buying at a fixed price). In the last option, the buyer can offer the seller his price by clicking on the Make button. offer . The duration of such an offer can be set in a separate dialog box.

How to create an NFT collection on Opensea?

The marketplace allows you to create collections of NFTs. A collection is just a directory-folder in which tokens with some common feature are collected. For example, pictures-avatars of one series. Sellers can combine tokens into projects so that it is convenient for buyers to navigate them, buyers can keep their collection of tokens in order.

What you need to create a collection

To create a collection, you need to log in to your account ⟶ move the pointer to the avatar ⟶ and select My in the drop-down menu collections. Or click Create on the main page.

In the window that opens, click Create the collection and style the collection. You will need:

Logo image, 350×350 px;
Featured image – to display the collection on OpenSea pages, 600×400 px;
Banner image – to display your project on marketplace pages, 1400×400 px;
Name;
URL – in the field you can customize url – a link where you can find the collection;
Description – up to 1000 characters;
Category – allows you to add a collection to the categories presented on the marketplace;
Links – the field allows you to add links;
Royalties — the field allows you to set the percentage of remuneration for all subsequent resales of the collection tokens. Maximum – 10%;
Select the blockchain for placing tokens and the types of NFTs that can be used to pay for the elements of the project;
Select the proposed option for displaying the collection;
In the user panel and the search engine of the platform;
Click Create.

After creating the collection, the platform will redirect you to the collection page. To add a new object to the collection, click Add Item in the top right corner of the screen. If you already have objects created, the system will redirect you to their list. If there are no NFTs created, it will offer to create the first element of the collection.

Creation of an NFT on OpenSea

NFT on marketplace can be created in two ways:

As a separate element, by clicking the Create button in the upper right corner of the screen (it will be possible to add a token to the collection during creation);
As an element of a ready-made collection by clicking the Add button on the collection page Item.

In the first option, the NFT will need to be added to the collection separately, in the second, the element will be immediately added to the collection. However, the steps to go through when creating NFTs are the same for both cases:

Go to the NFT creation page by selecting one of the options listed above;
We choose which object we want to turn into a token. You can use an image, video, audio, or 3D model. The maximum size is 100 MB. Valid file formats: jpg, png, gif, svg, mp4, webm, mp3, wav, ogg, glb, gltf;
We write the name in the Name field;
Then an external link in the field External link (for example, to your site);
In the Description field, set a description;
Collection drop-down line, you can add the created token to an already existing project;
The following are the modules that you can add to the page of the generated NFT (Properties, Stats, Levels), a checkbox that includes the visibility of the additional element field (Unlockable Content), a checkbox marking the token as Explicit & Sensitive Content;
Supply – determines the number of tokens that will be minted. While this number on OpenSea is limited to one ?;
Blockchain – choice of blockchain on which the NFT will be created;
As soon as all checkboxes are configured and the fields are filled in, click the Create button – your NTF is ready.

Publication of NFT sale announcement

To publish a token sale announcement on OpenSea, you need to:

Login to your account;
Select the token you want to put up for sale;
Go to the page of the NFT and click on the Sell button in the upper right corner;
A page with sales conditions settings will open in a browser window.

The platform provides the following options:

The ability to sell a token at a fixed price – Fixed Price. This option also has a Bundle feature that allows you to sell multiple NFTs;
Possibility to sell a NFT at a temporary auction — Timed Auction.

How to sell NFTs on OpenSea?

Perhaps this is the key question in the review of the OpenSea marketplace. Let’s consider all options for selling on marketplace in more detail.

Fixed price

The easiest option is selling at a fixed price.

The seller only needs to set the cost in the Amount field and specify the duration of the sale activity in the Duration field .

If you click the checkbox More Options , you can find two more options:

reserve for specific buyer – allows you to sell the token to a pre-selected buyer;
Bundle – This feature deserves a special mention.

Bundle

This is a selling method that allows you to combine several NFTs together and sell them as a whole. Up to 30 tokens can be combined into such a bundle. To add a token to a bundle , you need to activate the checkbox in one of them Bundle , and then add the necessary NFTs from the drop-down list.

Timed Auction

Auction is the most popular selling method on marketplace. adds excitement and the ability to sell a token or a set at an inflated price. WETH tokens are used for payment, so it is recommended to purchase them in advance.

OpenSea offers two options for working:

Sell to highest bidder – a classic fixed duration auction. The sale takes place at the highest rate. Thanks to the additional “Include reserve price” function, the seller can set a reserve price for the lot if no one specifies the seller’s bid during the auction;
Sell with declining price – “reverse” auction of a fixed duration. The seller sets the initial price and the minimum final price. Participants gradually reduce the price from a high initial price to an acceptable minimum. The token is sold to the first person to pay the current auction price.

What fees will you pay when selling a token?

Like any marketplace, marketplace charges a transaction fee.

There are two types of fees on OpenSea: those charged for processing transactions on the blockchain and those charged by the marketplace itself .

Commissions at the blockchain level Ethereum – gas

Commissions at the blockchain level can also be divided into two types: one-time and regular. You can read more about transaction processing fees in this article.

Token sale fee on OpenSea

Marketplace charges a 2.5% commission on every transaction that takes place on the marketplace. In addition, you can set a fee in favor of the NFT creator (royalty) up to 10%. This fee is charged on every transaction.

OpenSea mobile app

In September 2021, OpenSea launched a mobile marketplace app for iOS and Android. True, it works like a gallery: you can fully use the user’s account, view NFT items on the platform, but there is no way to buy and sell tokens.

Possible analogues

Other popular NFT marketplaces besides OpenSea:

Binance NFTs;
Rarible;
Mintable;
Superrare;
Foundation;
Mintable.

The authors develop these alternatives, although they are far from the turnover of OpenSea. Rarible launched a messenger for messaging via Ethereum in November. And Ripple, Mark Cuban and a number of institutional investors are investing in Mintable.

Conclusion

OpenSea is a convenient and secure platform that allows you to trade and create NFT tokens. To start using the service, it is enough to connect a digital wallet.
In 2022, the marketplace promises to increase the speed of system development, launch a grant program to support NFT creators, and continue to develop existing services. These changes could solidify Opensea’s position as the largest NFT creation and trading platform.

We tried to make a detailed and interesting review of OpenSea. We also talk about the TOP NFT coins, as well as how to start investing in NFT.