The world’s market for new investment vehicles has only sped up in the last few years. From Bitcoin’s manic rise to power to other crypto assets like Ethereum and Dogecoin creating their own stamp in the market.
While these are the baseline currencies that make up the current market, the ability to actually use any of these currencies in transactions remains slim. NFTs (or Non-fungible Tokens) allow crypto-enthusiasts the opportunity to invest and spend their hard-earned cryptocurrency in other types of tradeable assets.
OpenSea is a platform that allows users to quickly purchase, make, and sell NFTs. Let’s take a quick look at OpenSea’s features and pricing.
Before you go on, you may want to watch this video by Lite Liger on YouTube that gives a quick review. After, you’ll want to read the rest of our article for a more comprehensive review.
What is OpenSea? OpenSea Axie
OpenSea was developed in early 2018 by Devin Finzer and Alex Attalah. They had extensive technology backgrounds in Google and Palantir, respectively. They have also worked previously on Claimdog and hostess.fm which were sold to larger parent companies.
Their store of OpenSea directly follows the inception of CryptoKitiies, a 2017 crypto-asset that gave rise to what would then be developed as the modern NFT. Through lean collaboration and a desire to invest in new and exciting technologies, OpenSea was developed into one of the largest general marketplaces for user-owned digital items.
What is an NFT Market Place?
For those unaware or not as digitally savvy, an NFT marketplace deals with buying and selling digitally created goods, which have the unique programmability inherent with virtual items. They can be traded, just like any other digital asset. They can be used on different platforms but NFTs are unique because of their Blockchain-induced scarcity.
Digital goods have been plagued by scarcity for a long time due to their inherent ability to duplicate and copy any item. This makes it difficult to create digital art or other collectible memorabilia as their scarcity can only be controlled by platform controls or release limitations.
With NFTs, you can control the scarcity by providing a digital non-fungible token– that is, a wholly unique ID token– and attach it to your creations to certify that one as the original. This functionality allows people to buy, sell, or invest in digital art that they value. Since its soft inception in 2017, NFTs have grown in size and breadth. They now offer virtual experiences, sports memorabilia and digital clothing.
> > Click Here to Explore OpenSea < <
What does OpenSea do differently?
OpenSea is driven to make this technology accessible to all digital creators. This is the primary goal of OpenSea. If you’re a digital artist, you can utilize the OpenSea platform and list your work without having to pay any commission or usage fees. It’s similar to how traditional e-commerce websites like eBay work, where sellers can regularly post items for sale without having to pay anything in the way of a consignment fee.
What makes OpenSea a fantastic choice for artists and other creators is its sheer size. Since its inception, it has grown to be the largest NFT market available online, increasing the chances for interested buyers to find and invest in your work. You can even transact from your mobile device with the mobile app for iOS.
OpenSea’s collection manager makes it easy to manage these transactions. It allows users to mint and then sell NFTs without any fees.
Does OpenSea Have Any Costs?
OpenSea must generate revenue to keep its operations going and the platform operating. OpenSea adds a selling fee to any transaction, as is the case with most NFT marketplaces. The buyer usually pays this additional fee, which allows sellers to enjoy the full value of their NFTs. This fee comes in at about 2.5% on top of the listed price of the NFT, meaning a $100 NFT will cost the buyer $102.5 to purchase.
Sellers can even attach an additional fee on top of the price if they deserve an artist’s fee for their work. They don’t want to add additional fees. In that case, they can easily opt for the built-in royalties system inherent within NFTs. This means that your NFT will continue to generate royalties at a maximum of 10% for every subsequent sale after the initial sale.
OpenSea, however, does not accept payments in the form bank deposits, credit cards or debit cards. OpenSea transactions require you to have an existing wallet that is compatible with the Ethereum network. The list of available wallets is long, but some of the more common ones include Coinbase, MetaMask, and TrustWallet.
> > Click Here to Explore OpenSea < <
Is OpenSea Easy to Use?
OpenSea’s platform is pretty user-intuitive in that it can showcase bids and auction times in varying ways. The gallery page displays a variety of NFT art. You can either purchase them using the standard auction method or opt for a more instant “Buy Now,” similar to how eBay treats its sales.
You can also follow and view different artists. Some artists may have additional biographies or anecdotes about the meaning and purpose behind their work. You can also view information about each listing’s cost, available offers, and the price history of the artist.
Open Sea also allows you to create your own NFT (a process known as NFT Minting). Simply click the create function on the OpenSea homepage and click “Create a Collection.”
Once you are here, you can design the overall logo, banner, and other design elements of your collection and the name for the NFT and even URL layout. To direct potential buyers to your work, include relevant portfolios and social media links.
Now you can set your royalties up to 10% and decide which Blockchain you want to add your NFT to (as of writing, the current Blockchain’s available are Ehtereum or Polygon). You can then designate what token you’d like to accept payment in, either EtH, WITH, DAI, or USDC. To allow buyers to pay you, you will need to verify the transaction using your wallet. OpenSea Axie
Click Create to watch your collection space grow. Once the collection is set up, you can add items to it and upload your work up to a maximum of 100MB per file. Add a name to each item you upload and a subsequent description, mark it for sale, and just like that, you’re a certified NFT creator. The NFTs cannot be stored in OpenSea, but in your wallet. Make sure your wallet can support web3!
> > Click Here to Explore OpenSea < <
How To Open An Account
To properly set up an account, you will need a wallet. Doing so is one of the prerequisites to having an OpenSea account, but the process is relatively easy after that.
Sign up like any other website with your email, set a password, and begin personalizing your account with a banner and your own personal bio. The OpenSa FAQs has the dimensions guidelines for banners. OpenSea Axie
You used to need to verify the validity of your collection. Still, OpenSea has since removed this requirement, expanding the searchable items on their website. Profiles with high traffic have the advantage of having “verified status”, which is indicated by a blue-check that confirms their authenticity.
Is OpenSea safe?
As with all the different crypto platforms, safety is always a concern (especially when dealing with potentially large transactions). OpenSea’s transactions, like all crypto transactions, are safely secured on the Blockchain. Specifically, Ethereum’s smart contract allows the platform to facilitate transactions instantly without any oversight from third party auditors. OpenSea Axie
OpenSea can also be described as a non-custodial market. This means that OpenSea does not hold any of your crypto funds on its platform, only moving cryptocurrency from one wallet to another when a transaction takes place. This is all thanks to the above-mentioned smart contracts, keeping everything secure and verifiable.
Last words
OpenSea is an essential stop for any NFT creator or investor. The fact that it boasts the most extensive collection of NFTs currently and that it has such a simple interface for minting makes it a bit better than other marketplaces currently out there. It also has additional checks and balances to ensure your purchases are secure.
> > Click Here to Explore OpenSea < <
Most Frequently Asked Questions OpenSea Axie
What is an NFT?
An NFT, or Non-fungible token, acts as a certificate that you can attach to digital goods that indicate their authenticity and generates a sort of scarcity on your item. This increases the value of things and decreases the chance of inauthentic or pirated work appearing on different platforms.
Although it isn’t perfect, it has allowed digital artists to start earning from projects that they previously struggled to solve.
What is the Blockchain?
Blockchain would be the core of the entire process of making and transacting any crypto-asset that is currently on the market. While NFTs mostly use the Ethereum blockchain (utilizing their smart contracts function in the process), other crypto assets have their own blockchains in which their own transactions occur.
A blockchain is an automated leger, which is supported by crypto miners. It can manage, record and execute transactions between parties. In traditional financial settings, this would need third parties to verify the validity of each transaction. Modern technology is almost instantaneous, but back-end operations still rely on audits to ensure that each transaction was conducted in good faith.
Because the Blockchain relies on the transactions of the past, it eliminates the need to have third-party authenticationators. You must undo any successful transactions in order to defraud or duplicate trades within the Blockchain. Blockchain and the crypto market in general are fascinating because they serve as stepping stones to automated transactions between parties.
Is it possible to make an NFT?
Because it allows an art market that was previously very closed and exclusive to be opened up to potential disruptors, NFTs are known as the “people’s token”. They allow for quality artwork to be created and distributed to fans.
The best part about NFTs is that these distributions would be controlled. Every piece of art will be marked with an NFT token, indicating that it is authentic. This does mean that anyone can also label anything as their own by attaching an NFT receipt to it, regardless of how truthful they may be. But with any new technology comes its abusers, so take the good with some bad in this scenario.
Does OpenSea have Customer Support?
Suppose you may need support with your OpenSea account, transactions, or other things related to the platform. In that case, you can easily send an email to support@opensea.io. Make sure to include in the email a subject line indicating the nature of your problem and any particulars about your account. You can also use their ticket system, and they can be the ones to email you instead.
If you have simple problems, it may be good to check out the FAQs currently listed on their website. You might find the answer in one of their many entries.
