OpenSea is a decentralized application (DApp) and one of the earliest Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) marketplaces. It acts as a trading platform for crypto collectibles. OpenSea is seen as a blockchain-based version of Amazon and eBay that serves the digital content community. As an earlier entrant to the market, OpenSea enables creators to earn royalties depending on the value of the NFTs. Devin Finzer and Alex Atallah. F launched this platform in 2017. They had in mind a platform that would provide greater recognition to the digital artworks owned by artists and creators. Creators can sell their NFTs through auctions or at a fixed price as per their preference.
During its inception, OpenSea was launched on a testnet, Rinkeby, which runs on the Ethereum blockchain. Rinkeby, a Proof-of-Authority (PoA) testnet, is powered by ETH; hence creators must have a crypto wallet that accepts Ether to earn on the OpenSea platform. Some of the recommended wallets include MetaMask, Coinbase, and MyEtherWallet, among others. OpenSea relies on ERC-1155 and ERC-721 to ensure all digital assets are genuine and belongs to their various owners. Verified stores have a blue checkmark which confirms they are vetted and approved to trade. Besides, all NFT transactions done in this platform are recorded on a blockchain ledger. If you want to verify or flag any account, you can quickly interrogate their transactions. By leveraging blockchain technology, OpenSea has become a transparent, secure, and immutable trading platform.
Some of this platform's unique features are the use of governance tokens and how NFTs are minted. OpenSea has a governance token that gives owners the power to influence decisions and changes to any project they buy. Unlike other NFTs marketplaces, this platform only mints an NFT when it gets purchased. An asset only becomes part of the blockchain network only when it is sold.
Anyone who owns any digital artwork can join the OpenSea platform. You only need to create an account, and you will be able to showcase your artwork afterward. You must own a crypto wallet that is compatible with ETH. Creators can list their artworks on other marketplaces since OpenSea allows other companies to pull data from their database and participate in sales. They earn a small percentage of each sale.
The OpenSea website is user-friendly and offers a simple platform with a wide range of digital creations. Some of the NFTs you can access in this platform include:
- Digital Art – This hosts 70+ artists with over 16k digital portraits.
- Virtual Worlds - Users can trade their digital assets by showcasing their NFTs and trading virtual land and space to house their own NFTs. Some of the popular trades include Decentraland and the Somnium Space virtual reality.
- Collectables – You will come across titles such as CryptoKitties, JOYWORLD JOYs, Unisocks, and Axie Infinity.
- Sports – You will find limited edition cards, successful sporting NFTs such as F1, Golf, Racing, and Sorare tokens in this category.
- Domain Names – This category allows users to buy domain names.
Trading Cards – It houses digital trading cards and can be sold through an auction or listed at fixed prices. - Utility – This section hosts blockchain assets that enable developers to list unlockable features at a future date in efforts to fund their ideas. The project value is likely to increase due to supply and demand, and the investors end up earning huge profits.
OpenSea is one of the earliest and largest NFT marketplaces since 2017. It has recorded high sales and offers innovative features which make its website friendly. You can open an account in OpenSea today and explore the different available NFTs.
