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.
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, provide an avenue for crypto-enthusiasts to spend and invest their hard-earned cryptocurrency into 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 go on, you may want to check out 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.
What is OpenSea? OpenSeadragon
OpenSea was developed in early 2018 by Devin Finzer and Alex Attalah. 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.
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. 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. 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 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. 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.
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?
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. 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. 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. 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 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. Click the Create function on the OpenSea homepage, and then 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. Make sure to include any relevant social media links and portfolios to lead prospective buyers to your other work.
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. OpenSeadragon
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. 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
To properly set up an account, you will need a wallet. 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. OpenSeadragon
You used to need to verify the validity of your collection. 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 contract allows the platform to facilitate transactions instantly without any oversight from third party auditors. OpenSeadragon
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 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 < <
Most Frequently Asked Questions OpenSeadragon
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?
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. 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. 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.
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. 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.
Does OpenSea have Customer Support?
Suppose you may need support with your OpenSea account, transactions, or other things related to the platform. 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. You might find the answer in one of their many entries.
