The world’s market for new investment vehicles has only sped up in the last few years. From Bitcoin’s rapid rise to power to crypto assets such as Ethereum and Dogecoin putting their stamp on 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 go on, you may want to check out this video by Lite Liger on YouTube that gives a quick review. After, you will want to read the rest of our article for a more comprehensive review of OpenSea.
What is OpenSea? OpenSea Maps
OpenSea was developed in early 2018 by Devin Finzer and Alex Attalah. Both had extensive technology backgrounds at Google and Palantir. 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. OpenSea was built through lean collaboration and an eagerness to invest in exciting new technologies.
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 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.
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’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. 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. They even have the mobile app available for iOS devices so you can transact on the go.
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. 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.
OpenSea, however, does not accept payments in the form bank deposits, credit cards or debit cards. To make transactions on OpenSea, you’ll need to have existing wallets that have compatibility 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. 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 see information on each listing’s price, offers made, and even the artist’s price history.
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.”
You can now design the logo, banner and other elements of your collection, as well as the name for NFT and 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 Maps
Lastly, click create and watch your collection space develop. After the collection has been set up you can add items and upload up to 100MB of your work. You can add a name and description to each item that you upload, then mark it as for sale. 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. 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. You can find the rubric for dimensions allowed for things like banners in the OpenSa FAQs. OpenSea Maps
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. High-traffic profiles have the advantage of having a “verified status” (signified by a blue check) that indicates the authenticity of their account.
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 Maps
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. 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. 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 Maps
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 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?
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. 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. To defraud or duplicate trades within a blockchain, you must decouple and undo all the other transactions that succeeded. Blockchain and the crypto market in general are fascinating because they serve as stepping stones to 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.
NFTs are controlled distributions. This is the best thing about NFTs. Each piece of art will have an NFT token attached to it, signifying it as 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?
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. You can also use their ticket system, and they can be the ones to email you instead.
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.
