In the past few years, there has been a rapid increase in demand for investment vehicles. 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 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 Offers
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.
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. Like any good digital asset, they’re tradeable. They can be used across different platforms, but their Blockchain-induced scarcity makes NFTs unique.
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. 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 is OpenSea Doing Differently?
OpenSea’s primary focus is its drive to put this new technology within reach of all digital creators out there. 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. 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.
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. This additional fee is usually paid by the buyer, allowing the sellers to reap the full benefits of their price. 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. They can opt for the NFTs’ built-in royalty system. 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 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.
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. You’ll need to verify the transaction with your wallet to allow buyers to send you the payment. OpenSea Offers
Click Create to watch your collection space grow. After the collection has been set up you can add items and upload up to 100MB of your work. 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
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. You can find the rubric for dimensions allowed for things like banners in the OpenSa FAQs. OpenSea Offers
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?
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 Offers
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.
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 Offers
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.
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.
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.
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. But with any new technology comes its abusers, so take the good with some bad in this scenario.
OpenSea has customer support
Let’s say you need assistance with your OpenSea account or transactions. You can send an email directly to support@opensea.io in this case. Include in your email a subject line that explains the nature of the problem and details 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.
