In the past few years, there has been a rapid increase in demand for investment vehicles. From Bitcoin’s rapid rise to power to crypto assets such as Ethereum and Dogecoin putting their stamp on 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 aims to help facilitate this growing market of NFTs by providing a platform for users to quickly jump on to make, purchase, and sell NFTs quickly. Let’s see what OpenSea has to offer in this quick review of its features, pricing, and other related capabilities.
Before you continue, you may want to watch this video by Lite Liger on YouTube that gives a quick overview. After, you’ll want to read the rest of our article for a more comprehensive review of OpenSea.
What is OpenSea? OpenSea Developer
OpenSea was created by Alex Attalah and Devin Finzer in 2018. 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. Like any good digital asset, they’re tradeable. They can be used on different platforms but NFTs are unique because of their Blockchain-induced scarcity.
Scarcity has long plagued the issue of digital goods due to the inherent capability to copy and duplicate any digital item, making the creation of digital art and other collectible memorabilia tricky in the sense that their scarcity is only limited either by release limitation or by platform controls.
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. From virtual experiences, sports memorabilia, and even digital clothing, NFTs have only expanded in breadth and width ever since its soft inception in 2017.
> > Click Here to Explore OpenSea < <
What is OpenSea Doing Differently?
OpenSea is driven to make this technology accessible to all digital creators. This is the primary goal of OpenSea. OpenSea allows digital artists to list their work on the platform without any fees or commissions. This is similar to traditional e-commerce sites like eBay, where sellers can post items to sell regularly without paying any consignment fees.
What makes OpenSea a fantastic choice for artists and other creators is its sheer size. It has grown to become the largest NFT marketplace online since its inception. This increases the chance for interested buyers to discover your work and invest. You can even transact from your mobile device with the mobile app for iOS.
Managing said transactions is much easier with OpenSea’s Collection Manager, giving users the ability to mint and sell NFTs with no attached fees.
Does OpenSea Have Any Costs?
Of course, OpenSea needs to generate revenue somehow to maintain its operations and keep the platform running. 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. The buyer will pay $102.5 for a $100 NFT. This is in addition to the NFT’s listed price.
Sellers may charge an additional fee if the artist is a worthy buyer. 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. There are many wallets available, but trustWallet, MetaMask and Coinbase are some of the most popular.
> > Click Here to Explore OpenSea < <
OpenSea is easy to use
OpenSea’s platform is pretty user-intuitive in that it can showcase bids and auction times in varying ways. You start off with a gallery page of different NFT art available. They can be purchased using either the traditional auction process or a faster “Buy Now” option, similar to eBay’s sales.
You can view and follow different artists as well. 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.
If you want to create your own NFT, a process called NFT Minting, you can do that through Open Sea as well. 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. Make sure to include any relevant social media links and portfolios to lead prospective buyers to your other work.
You can now set your royalty rates up to 10% and choose which Blockchain you would like to add your NFT (as of this writing, Ehtereum and Polygon are the current Blockchains). You can then designate what token you’d like to accept payment in, either EtH, WITH, DAI, or USDC. You’ll need to verify the transaction with your wallet to allow buyers to send you the payment. OpenSea Developer
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. Note that the NFTs are not stored in OpenSea but rather in your wallet, so ensure that your wallet is web3 capable.
> > 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.
Register with your email and set a password. Then, personalize your account by adding a banner or your personal bio. The OpenSa FAQs has the dimensions guidelines for banners. OpenSea Developer
In the past, you had to prove your collection’s validity. 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?
Safety is a concern with any crypto platform, especially when it comes to 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 Developer
OpenSea is also what you would call a non-custodial marketplace. OpenSea doesn’t hold any crypto funds. It only moves cryptocurrency from one wallet into another when there is a transaction. All of this is possible because of the smart contracts mentioned above, which keep everything secure and verifyable.
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. Plus, it does have some additional checks and balances that can keep your purchases secure.
> > Click Here to Explore OpenSea < <
Frequently Asked Questions OpenSea Developer
What is an NFT?
The Non-fungible token (or NFT) acts as a certificate you attach to digital goods. This certifies their authenticity and creates a sense of scarcity. 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?
The Blockchain would be the backbone of the entire process that surrounds the making and transacting of any crypto-asset currently in 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. This would require third parties to verify each transaction in traditional financial environments. Sure the modern age feels almost instant, but back-end operations are still comprised mainly of audits that ensure each transaction was done in good faith.
Because the Blockchain relies on the transactions of the past, it eliminates the need to have third-party authenticationators. To defraud or duplicate trades within a blockchain, you must decouple and undo all the other transactions that succeeded. This is why Blockchain and the surrounding crypto market are interesting as they act as stepping stones towards the possible future of automated transactions between parties.
Can Anyone Make an NFT?
NFTs have become known as the “people’s token” as it allows what was usually a very centralized and exclusive art market to suddenly open up to newcomers and potential disrupters that can create quality artwork and distribute it 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 means that anyone can label any piece of art as their own by attaching an NFT receipt. However, abusers can also be found in any new technology. So let’s take the good with the bad.
Does OpenSea have Customer Support?
Suppose you may need support with your OpenSea account, transactions, or other things related to the platform. You can send an email directly to support@opensea.io in this case. 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.
