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 check out this video by Lite Liger on YouTube that gives a quick review. After, you’ll want to read the rest of the article for a more comprehensive review of OpenSea.
What is OpenSea? OpenSea Immutable X
OpenSea was created by Alex Attalah and Devin Finzer in 2018. Both had extensive technology backgrounds at Google and Palantir. 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. 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.
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 has opened the gate to how people can start buying, selling, and even investing in digital art 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. OpenSea allows digital artists to list their work on the platform without any fees or commissions. 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.
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. This additional fee is usually paid by the buyer, allowing the sellers to reap the full benefits of their price. 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. Suppose they don’t feel like adding extra fees. In that case, they can easily opt for the built-in royalties system inherent within NFTs. That means that any subsequent sale of your NFT after your initial sale will still generate yours at a max of 10% of the sale price.
Take note, though, that, unlike other NFT marketplaces, OpenSea does not accept payment in the form of bank deposits, credit or debit cards, and Paypal. 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 makes it easy to use. It can display bids and auction times, in different ways. The gallery page displays a variety of NFT art. 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. You may find additional information about some artists, such as biographies and anecdotes that explain the meaning or purpose of 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. To direct potential buyers to your work, include relevant portfolios and social media links.
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). 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 Immutable X
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
You’ll need to make sure you have a good wallet on hand to properly set up an account. 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 Immutable X
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?
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 contracts allow the platform to instantly facilitate transactions with no needed oversight from third-party auditors. OpenSea Immutable X
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.
Final Words
OpenSea is an essential stop for any NFT creator or investor. It is a great marketplace because it offers the largest number of NFTs and has a very simple interface for minting. It also has additional checks and balances to ensure your purchases are secure.
> > Click Here to Explore OpenSea < <
Frequently Asked Questions OpenSea Immutable X
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 helps improve value in things, almost to astronomical prices, and reduces the chances of pirated or inauthentic work popping up around 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. In traditional financial settings, this would need third parties to verify the validity of each transaction. 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.
The way the Blockchain is set up is that it removes the need for third-party authenticators by having its entire transaction system revolve around the previous transactions. You must undo any successful transactions in order to defraud or duplicate trades within the Blockchain. 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 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. However, abusers can also be found in any new technology. So let’s take the good with the bad.
OpenSea has 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. Include in your email a subject line that explains the nature of the problem and details 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. You might find the answer in one of their many entries.
