Check out our full list of pros and cons or read on.
| Product Name | OpenSea |
|---|---|
| Payment methods |
Credit card Debit card Cryptocurrency Bank transfer |
| Services |
Buy Sell Mint |
| Buyer fee | 2% |
| Seller fee | 2.5% |
| Blockchain |
Ethereum Polygon Klaytn |
| Supported payment currencies |
Fiat Cryptocurrency |
If you know your ERC721 from your ERC20 tokens, chances are you've frequented OpenSea in 2022, at least briefly to see what all the fuss is about. If not, here's what you're missing.
OpenSea is a decentralised marketplace that enables the buying, selling and trading of rare non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Once proclaimed as the "eBay for CryptoKitties", OpenSea has expanded beyond collectibles to become a marketplace for other types of non-fungible assets such as game items, music, domain names and many more.
The platform is the premier NFT exchange in the crypto industry and was founded in January 2018 by programmers Alex Atallah and Devin Finzer to facilitate the trading of the first generation of digital collectibles. Today, OpenSea is the largest NFT marketplace by volume, according to data from DappRadar. The platform allows you to explore and acquire millions of NFTs in hundreds of categories. You can also list NFTs that you've created or bought from somewhere else.
As a decentralised marketplace, OpenSea's smart contracts allow users to interact with the platform without surrendering custody of their NFTs. Your digital assets do not need to leave your wallet until you make a transaction. You don't even need to create an account as long as you have a supported web3 wallet such as MetaMask.
All assets within the marketplace are owned by OpenSea users, not the platform itself. You can buy these NFTs using Ether (ETH) and other supported cryptocurrencies. The marketplace has a Browser page that allows you to search for NFTs.
If you're after a specific NFT, you can go over to the search bar and look for it. You can also filter out your search by category, collection, blockchain network and status. Once you get the results of your search, you can sort them by listing date, price or viewers.
The OpenSea platform was initially powered solely by Ethereum smart contracts but has recently added support to the Klaytn chain in light of its goal to become a cross-chain marketplace that supports more than one blockchain. Furthermore, it has added Ethereum layer-2 protocol Polygon (MATIC) to enable low-cost and fast trading.
OpenSea primarily accepts ETH or DAI for purchases. However, over 150 other tokens such as UNI, MANA, REVV and WHALE are also accepted.
OpenSea offers virtually all types of NFTs. It has around 200 categories, 8 of which stand out:
Buying NFTs on OpenSea is fast and easy once you get the hang of it. But for beginners, there is a bit of a learning curve at first. Let's run through the process step-by-step.
Yes, you need to store your NFTs in a wallet since OpenSea does not take custody of any assets. You can store your NFTs on MetaMask or other supported web3 wallets such as Bitski, Fortmatic, WalletConnect, Portio, Kaikas and the like.
You can sell your NFTs on OpenSea by simply listing them in the Marketplace. Follow these steps to list your digital assets:
You can view all the assets you have listed for sale by clicking on your profile page and then clicking on the "Activity" tab.
| Customer | Fee |
|---|---|
| Buyers | none |
| Sellers | 2.5% |
Yes, OpenSea is a relatively secure NFT marketplace since it's completely decentralised and simply connects different cryptocurrency wallets with each other without taking custody of the assets in question. Decentralised platforms are in theory more secure than centralised marketplaces since they don't act as custodians that hold user funds and also have no central point of failure such as a server that can be targeted with Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attacks.
For example, centralised NFT marketplace Nifty Gateway suffered a security breach in March 2021, when hackers managed to obtain the credentials of a few customers who didn't have the 2-factor authentication secure measure turned on, and absconded with some of their NFT assets.
Moreover, unlike more vulnerable DeFi protocols, OpenSea doesn't employ staking or any feature that requires depositing assets to smart contracts, which means there is no way hackers can steal user funds through bugs or other exploits. All NFT assets remain in user wallets unless they are bought.
However, it must be noted that hackers often come up with ingenious ways to trick victims, and that users should be especially vigilant against practices such as phishing sites. Always make sure that you're indeed connecting to the official OpenSea.io site, and not a counterfeit version.
* Cryptocurrencies aren't regulated in the UK and there's no protection from the Financial Ombudsman or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Your capital is at risk. Capital gains tax on profits may apply.
Cryptocurrencies are speculative and investing in them involves significant risks - they're highly volatile, vulnerable to hacking and sensitive to secondary activity. The value of investments can fall as well as rise and you may get back less than you invested. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. This content shouldn't be interpreted as a recommendation to invest. Before you invest, you should get advice and decide whether the potential return outweighs the risks. Finder, or the author, may have holdings in the cryptocurrencies discussed.
