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 take a quick look at OpenSea’s features and pricing.
Before you go on, 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 our article for a more comprehensive review.
What is OpenSea? OpenSea On Chain Metadata
OpenSea was developed in early 2018 by Devin Finzer and Alex Attalah. 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. 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. 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.
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.
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 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 does OpenSea do 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. 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. As is typical with other NFT marketplaces, OpenSea charges a percentage of the NFT’s price as an additional selling fee on top of any transaction. 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 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. 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. To make transactions on OpenSea, you’ll need to have existing wallets that have compatibility 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 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 also follow and view different artists. 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.
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. 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). The next step is to choose the token that you would like to receive payment in. This can be either EtH, DAI or WITH. To allow buyers to pay you, you will need to verify the transaction using your wallet. OpenSea On Chain Metadata
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. 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. 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 On Chain Metadata
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). Like all crypto transactions, OpenSea transactions are secured on the Blockchain. Specifically, Ethereum’s smart contract allows the platform to facilitate transactions instantly without any oversight from third party auditors. OpenSea On Chain Metadata
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. This is all thanks to the above-mentioned smart contracts, keeping everything secure and verifiable.
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 On Chain Metadata
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 the Blockchain?
Blockchain would be the core of the entire process of making and transacting any crypto-asset that is currently on the market. NFTs use the Ethereum blockchain most often (using their smart contracts function), but other crypto assets also have their own blockchains where their transactions take place.
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. Modern technology is almost instantaneous, but back-end operations still rely on audits to ensure that each transaction was conducted 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. Blockchain and the crypto market in general are fascinating because they serve as stepping stones to automated transactions between parties.
Is it possible to make an NFT?
Because it allows an art market that was previously very closed and exclusive to be opened up to potential disruptors, NFTs are known as the “people’s token”. They allow for quality artwork to be created and distributed 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. But with any new technology comes its abusers, so take the good with some bad in this scenario.
OpenSea has 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. 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.