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.
These are the base currencies of the market. However, it is not possible to use any of them in transactions. NFTs, or Non-fungible tokens, provide an avenue for crypto-enthusiasts to spend and invest their hard-earned cryptocurrency into 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 will want to read the rest of the article for a more comprehensive review of OpenSea.
What is OpenSea? OpenSea Icon
OpenSea was created by Alex Attalah and Devin Finzer in 2018. They had extensive technology backgrounds in Google and Palantir, respectively. Not only that, but they’ve also previously worked on two successful businesses, Claimdog, and hostess.fm, which have been sold to larger parent companies since their inception.
OpenSea was created by CryptoKitiies in 2017, a 2017 crypto-asset which gave rise to the modern NFT. OpenSea was built through lean collaboration and an eagerness to invest in exciting new technologies.
What is an NFT Market Place?
An NFT marketplace allows you to buy and sell digitally-created goods. They can be traded, just like any other digital asset. They can be used across different platforms, but their Blockchain-induced scarcity makes NFTs unique.
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.
You can manage scarcity with NFTs by creating a digital token that is non-fungible. This token can be attached to your creations to verify that it is the original. This functionality has opened the gate to how people can start buying, selling, and even investing in digital art 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 does OpenSea do differently?
OpenSea’s primary focus is its drive to put this new technology within reach of all digital creators out there. 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.
OpenSea is a great choice for artists and other creators because of 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.
OpenSea has 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 < <
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 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 see information on each listing’s price, offers made, and even the artist’s price history.
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.”
You can now design the logo, banner and other elements of your collection, as well as the name for NFT and URL layout. Make sure to include any relevant social media links and portfolios to lead prospective buyers to your other work.
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). The next step is to choose the token that you would like to receive payment in. This can be either EtH, DAI or WITH. You’ll need to verify the transaction with your wallet to allow buyers to send you the payment. OpenSea Icon
Lastly, click create and watch your collection space develop. Once the collection is set up, you can add items to it and upload your work up to a maximum of 100MB per file. You can add a name and description to each item that you upload, then mark it as for sale. 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
You’ll need to make sure you have a good wallet on hand to properly set up an account. This is a prerequisite to opening an OpenSea Account. However, it is easy to do.
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 Icon
In the past, you had to prove your collection’s validity. OpenSea removed the requirement and has expanded the number of searchable items available on their site. 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 Icon
OpenSea is also what you would call a non-custodial marketplace. 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. All of this is possible because of the smart contracts mentioned above, which keep everything secure and verifyable.
Final Words
OpenSea is a must-have visit for any would-be NFT investor or creator in the market. 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 Icon
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 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.
Think of a blockchain as an automated leger– sustained by what’s known to be crypto miners– that can manage, record, and execute deals 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.
Is it possible to 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. Each piece of art will have an NFT token attached to it, signifying it as 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?
Let’s say you need assistance with your OpenSea account or transactions. 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. They also have a ticket system that you can use to send an email.
You may find the FAQs useful if you are having simple problems. One of their many entries may already have the answer to your concern.