Opensea and top 5 major competitors

A website or app where users may make, purchase, and sell NFTs is known as an NFT marketplace. These platforms allow users to purchase various digital assets, services, and products. The better ones also provide simple tools that allow anyone, regardless of technical ability, to manufacture and sell tokens.

Users can mint nearly anything as an NFT, but not all marketplaces allow users to. Furthermore, separate marketplaces may support multiple blockchains, payment methods, and pricing structures.

OpenSea and NFT invasion

The invasion of NFT

Opensea and NFT invasion

Many Internet titans and organizations from other industries have recently entered the NFT industry. There are also fashion and sports brands such as Adidas, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and so on. And most recently LG has announced to set foot in the Metaverse.

Time magazine launched an NFT suite of products in September 2021 that will allow unrestricted access to the magazine's website through 2023. In the same month, PepsiCo's potato brand Lays joined forces with the platform. The Project Ark digital platform has launched NFT artwork, which is made up of over 3,000 smiling images of individuals from all over the world. The $300,000 raised from the sale of this painting at auction was donated to non-profit organizations.

Dolce Gabbana, a luxury fashion brand, has launched an NFT edition haute couture collection. Nike most recently bought RTFKT, a firm specializing in the development of digital sneakers, in December 2021. Nike CEO John Donahoe stated that the RTFKT acquisition accelerates Nike's digital transformation.

Social media platforms are also rushing to develop NFT-related functionality. Meta, Facebook's parent corporation, is also rumored to be considering allowing users to produce and sell NFTs across its two social networking sites, Facebook and Instagram. In addition, the company is working on a tool that will allow customers to design their own NFTs on the Meta platform. Instagram Director Adam Mosseri also revealed that the firm is developing NFT in December 2021. TikTok, the popular short video app, previously announced the launch of the first NFT series "TikTok Top Moments" in September 2021.

Aside from art collections, commodities such as games, music, real estate, wine, and so on can all be converted into NFTs. NFTs can be created from financial assets such as whole life insurance policies. Sundance Strategies, an American life insurance business, announced plans to introduce a life insurance NFT product in early 2022.

The basic benefit of NFT, according to Mr. Ho Kien Quyen, creator of virtual real estate startup The Metaverse, is property ownership. Owning an NFT product is a way for many people to satisfy their collecting love, demonstrate their social status, or just consider it a gift due to the unique character of NFT ownership, which cannot be falsified. investment with the intention of reselling it at a profit.

However, the capacity to integrate virtual assets with the actual world is where many organizations are aiming when leveraging NFT, giving value to NFT. The NFT, for example, can be used as a membership card, allowing the holder to join both actual and virtual groups. If a person buys a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT membership card, they also own the club's admittance ticket. Coca-Cola also auctioned off NFT collections, with the money benefiting an international sporting event for individuals with intellectual disabilities.

Does OpenSea still take over the market?

Does Opensea still take over the market?

OpenSea is a peer-to-peer marketplace designed specifically for NFT users. OpenSea, in particular, provides the infrastructure required to mint and trade NFTs. The total volume of OpenSea is $31,51 billion. More than 1,9 million users are considered to have traded on this marketplace. As the biggest marketplace at the moment, OpenSea has millions of NFT listed on it with the average price of $546,65. Monthly transactions (at the time of writing) of OpenSea reach the number of 2.66 million.

The excellent thing about this platform is that it allows most (if not all) of its operations to be performed on the blockchain. Decentralization is an important aspect of the platform because users do not require the assistance of a third party to make, purchase, or sell NFT-based digital items.

Another important feature of OpenSea is its ability to simplify the complex processes required in managing and monetizing NFTs. You do not need to know how to code to develop NFTs on OpenSea, and there are no technical requirements to use its trading interface.

For users wishing to mint, purchase, sell, or trade non-fungible tokens, OpenSea has been the main decentralized platform (NFT). According to Dune Analytics, OpenSea, which functions more as an NFT aggregator than a gallery, locked in $3.25 billion in volume for December 2021 alone, and overall volume surged by a stunning 90,968 percent from December 2020 to December 2021.

OpenSea is no stranger to controversy and criticism, and it has had its fair share of risks and pitfalls. Nate Chastain, the platform's former head of product, was found exploiting insider information to front-run and profit from selling the platform's top page NFTs.

The community felt devalued after newly appointed chief financial officer Brian Roberts hinted at going public, adding to the general sense of distrust. He swiftly clarified, though, that OpenSea has no plans to go public anytime soon.

OpenSea may be the largest NFT marketplace by transaction volume at the moment, but there will undoubtedly be a slew of competitors vying for the throne.

>> Learn more: An ultimate guide on how to use OpenSea NFT marketplace

OpenSea's competitors

Here are five competitors who could overtake it in the future.

Binance NFT

Opensea and top 5 major competitors

The Binance NFT Marketplace is one of the most highly recommended sites for purchasing NFTs. According to CoinMarketCap, this marketplace is administered by Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange. Binance takes itself in having minimal fees, and this extends to the NFT marketplace, where customers may acquire NFTs for as little as a 1% transaction charge. In addition, the Binance NFT Marketplace provides NFTs on the Binance Smart Chain and the Ethereum blockchain, assuring a diverse range of tradable assets.

The Binance marketplace's design is simple to use, and it offers NFTs in categories including art, sports, entertainment, gaming, collectibles, and more. Binance also features an appealing 'Mystery Box' function, where users may buy a box and receive a random NFT that could be quite valuable. The best part is that if you already have a Binance account, you may use the same credentials to access the NFT marketplace.

The Binance NFT Marketplace website exclusively accepts crypto for NFT purchases, while users who do not have digital currency can readily obtain some through the Binance exchange. NFTs can be purchased via auction or at a set price and transferred to an external NFT wallet.

Finally, Binance's marketplace lets users create their own NFTs and pay nominal fees in BNB - the platform's native token.

Binance is believed to be the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange. As a result of the development of an NFT platform built on the Binance ecosystem, the NFT platform already has a large user base from which to draw. According to a recent rumor, Binance NFT is introducing the Multi-chain capability, which will allow users to move assets between Binance and Ethereum. This might be a game-changer, propelling Binance NFT to the top of the NFT sector.

According to the analysts, the combined trading volume of NFTs as early 2022 was nearly $18 billion. The total volume is $13 billion with monthly trade volume exceeding $40 million per month.

Mintable

Opensea and top 5 major competitors

This NFT marketplace, which was launched in 2018, quickly gained popularity since it allows for the purchase and sale of a wide range of digital goods. Users can trade assets like art, music, videos, e-books, and others. Billionaire Mark Cuban is backing an NFT marketplace in order to develop a competitor to the OpenSea platform. The NFT marketplace Mintable enables users to produce, purchase, sell, and trade NFTs using Ethereum blockchain technology.

On the Mintable platform, anyone may buy, sell, and trade NFTs. However, users must first acquire Ethereum from a cryptocurrency exchange and link their wallets to the Mintable marketplace. On the NFT marketplace, ETH is used to pay minting costs, bid on, and purchase digital assets.

Mintable attracts a lot of new NFT inventors who are interested in gasless minting. Many creative artists use the site since anyone may make a token by uploading a png, mp4, or any appropriate asset for free.

While it is not a standard DAO, Mintable includes an NFT DAO that allows owners to vote on future branding using non-fungible tokens. Users of Mintable can earn $MINT by buying and selling on the marketplace, purchasing votes on the contract/bonding curve, or purchasing them on the secondary market.

Moreover, with Mintable, creators can set any royalties rate they want. Users are also recommended to set a less than 30% rate to receive more reputation.

At the time of writing, Mintable‘s monthly volume is about 26.37k and monthly transactions are around 350.

LooksRare

Opensea and top 5 major competitors

LooksRare, a relatively new platform in the market, was introduced on January 10, 2022. LooksRare was formed by the pseudonymous Zodd and Guts after initiating a 'vampire attack' on OpenSea, the largest and most popular NFT store.

LooksRare is a community-first, decentralized NFT marketplace that pays producers, collectors, stakers, and traders for using the platform. LooksRare, unlike OpenSea, is a truly decentralized entity that adheres to the core idea of blockchain technology. LooksRare is frequently referred to as a "community-first NFT marketplace that actively compensates traders, collectors, and creators for participating."

LooksRare, a decentralized NFT marketplace, is vying for market supremacy with OpenSea. LooksRare is an option for new NFT collectors. In addition to lower expenses, payment for transactions might be in tokens.

OpenSea is a well-known NFT marketplace with a significant following and a sizable budget for expansion and enhancement; nevertheless, it is important to note that the platform currently does not accept fiat currency. LooksRare only accepts Ether (ETH) as payment on the Ethereum network, but it also accepts WETH (and stakers will receive additional LOOKS tokens for their investment).

LooksRare's reward and stacking structure provides its members with appealing prospects, whereas OpenSea costs significantly more for its services. Unlike OpenSea, where just the team benefits, this money flows to the LOOKS stakeholders, allowing everyone to profit from the marketplace earnings.

Some information about LooksRare is recorded to have a total trading volume of $1,57 billion. Total traders: 95.467 is the number of traders in the marketplace. Monthly transactions are counted 30.33k.

Rarible

Opensea and top 5 major competitors

Rarible is one of the top NFT art marketplaces for investors since it offers a wide range of digital art, photography, games, music, domains, and even metaverse objects. The site charges both buyers and sellers a 2.5 percent fee, putting it on the higher end of the cost spectrum. Rarible, on the other hand, has multi-chain support and can host NFTs developed on Ethereum, Flow, and Tezos.

One of the best features of Rarible is that customers can purchase NFTs with their credit or debit card. Over 190 nations are covered, making it simple to purchase Rare NFTs all over the world, making this one of the largest NFT marketplaces. Finally, Rarible supports a variety of wallets, including MetaMask and Coinbase, ensuring that investors may safely keep their funds after purchase.

Although OpenSea has the advantage in terms of popularity and age, Rarible offers some significant advantages to consider.

Rarible allows consumers to choose their own royalty %, supports four blockchains, and allows them to buy fixed-price things with their credit card. The only major benefit OpenSea has over Rarible is that it accepts more file types and supports Solana — but this isn't enough to give it the victory.

OpenSea may be the "biggest" NFT marketplace, but if it does not start allowing functions that younger marketplaces are releasing, it may lose the top status. Furthermore, OpenSea is battling with a slew of fraudulent NFTs all over the marketplace, thus Rarible will be a better option for both creators and purchasers.

The total sales volume for Rarible is $298,42 million. The average price of one Rarible NFT was $499,05. There are 106.166 Rarible traders, joining to achieve a monthly transaction of 13.08k.

>> Learn more: How to use Rarible NFT marketplace

Nifty Gateway

Opensea and top 5 major competitors

Nifty Gateway is another great NFT marketplace to explore. Nifty Gateway specializes on 'premium' NFT drops, which are limited-edition NFT releases. The site has featured a wide range of prominent musicians and creatives in the past, including Steve Aoki and Grimes. Because these NFTs are in high demand, Nifty Gateway's selection is geared more toward high-end investors.

Nifty Gateway is a subsidiary of Gemini, the cryptocurrency exchange founded by the Winklevoss Twins. If you live in the United States, you can buy NFTs with a credit or debit card. However, if you are outside of the United States, you must utilize the cryptocurrency saved on your Gemini account. Finally, Nifty Gateway levies a 5% fee to the seller of each NFT, in addition to a $0.30 transaction fee.

Gemini is well-known for its industry-leading security infrastructure and personnel. Nifty Gateway, like Gemini, adheres to the idea of least privilege by implementing tiered, role-based access controls in our production environment. Administrative access requires multi-factor authentication and can only be obtained with Gemini-issued gear.

Besides, Nifty Gateway is more exclusive, featuring a varied choice of NFTs that the platform has curated and personally picked. The developers sell NFTs from its Curated Drops, a release of an NFT project. Nifty Gateway is ideal for investors seeking limited edition art from major brands and artists. Many of these brands can only be found on the NFT, contributing to the platform's rarity and exclusivity.

The total trade volume of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the online platform Nifty Gateway amounted to roughly $100 million per month.

The key differences among OpenSea and its rivals

The table below breaks down the key information for each of the marketplaces discussed in the preceding sections.

The key differences among OpenSea and its rivals

Many intriguing observations emerge from the comparison's full summary. Simultaneously, the conversation offered insight on the availability of training support for using the platforms. The distinction between platforms based on audience aids in selecting the best option. People might select the best NFT platform that meets all of the requirements in their intended use case.

Things to consider when choosing a marketplace

The following are some of the most important factors to consider when selecting the finest NFT marketplace.

Things to consider when choosing a marketplace

Market volume and liquidity

The best NFT marketplaces have many users who actively buy and sell. This means that there’s always someone to buy NFTs, therefore, users can quickly turn them into cash if needed. The larger the marketplace, the more likely it is to be liquid.

Supported blockchains

A blockchain is not supported by all marketplaces. As the blockchain has a large impact on minting costs, users have to make sure the marketplace supports the blockchain they want to use.

Supported payment methods

Although most NFT marketplaces only accept cryptocurrency, others accept fiat currencies. This is critical for folks who do not own cryptocurrency or have never used it.

Asset types

Technically, an NFT can represent any digital asset; however, not all marketplaces support all asset kinds. Most allow users to interact with typical digital materials such as digital art, music, and videos, while other use cases are more specialized and may not be supported.

Number of available assets

More assets attract more buyers, increasing the likelihood that users will find someone interested in purchasing theirs. More assets mean more alternatives for them as a buyer.

Transaction fees

Some platforms will impose a set or variable cost on all transactions, while others will just charge the seller but not the buyer, and still others will not charge a fee at all, so keep this in mind.

Gas fees

To mint or transmit an NFT on some blockchains, such as Ethereum, users must pay a gas cost to the network of miners. The greatest NFT marketplaces will offer extremely cheap or perhaps no gas fees. Given the high cost of these, this is something worth investigating.

Bottom lines

As the pace of NFTs has been set and digital collectibles are gaining popularity, 2022 may witness a wider demography whose interests may differ from those of OpenSea. These five NFT marketplaces are excellent challengers for the top spot because they value accessibility, regulation, and better user experiences.

Disclaimer:
This article is intended for and only to be used for reference purposes only. No such information provided constitutes advice or a recommendation that any investment or trading strategy is suitable for any specific name.

OpenSea and top 5 major competitors