OpenSea is the dominant decentralized platform for users who want to mint, buy, sell and trade non-fungible tokens (NFTs). OpenSea. serves as an NFT aggregator rather than a gallery locked in a volume of 3.25 billion US dollars for December 2021 alone, according to data from Dune Analytics and from December 2020 to December 2021, the total volume increased by a whopping 90,968%.
Controversy and criticism are not unknown, OpenSea has its fair share of dangers and pitfalls. Former product manager Nate Chastain in particular found out he was using inside information to step up to the top and capitalize on selling the platform’s front-page NFTs.
In addition to widespread suspicion, the community felt devalued after newly appointed Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Brian Roberts indicated to go public. However, he was quick to reiterate that OpenSea has no intention of going public anytime soon.
OpenSea may be the leading NFT marketplace right now by transaction volume, but by 2022 there will certainly be a handful of competitors aiming to sell the giant down.
Here are five NFT marketplaces that could potentially shake the top contender out of his spot in the months ahead.
Coinbase NFT
Coinbase appears to be relying on elements of centralization as the main engine for mass adoption. Coinbase takes advantage of the growing popularity of NFTs and competes with OpenSea in the launch of its NFT marketplace, Coinbase NFT. According to reports, the Waiting list has exceeded 1.1 millionwhich is more than OpenSea’s entire active user base alone.
Monthly active traders at OpenSea. Source: Dune Analytics
The announcement of the launch of Coinbase NFT was a signal that captured the increasing value NFTs could gain as digital collectibles continue to become mainstream. Understanding how NFTs combine culture and commerce, Coinbase NFT is likely to change the order of things. The project has since established partnerships with collections such as World of Women, DeadFellaz and Lazy Lions.
While the marketplace hasn’t started yet, its waiting list alone suggests that many investors are either eager to get into the technology for the first time or are looking for alternatives to what they are already using.
We are very proud to announce our partnership with the kings and queens of the den of lions. We love each other a little @LazyLionsNFT. #ROAR pic.twitter.com/5Od1d77dPm
– Coinbase NFT (@Coinbase_NFT) December 7, 2021
Based on a statement from Coinbase, Coinbase NFT will be peer-to-peer (P2P) “… with an intuitive design that is based on a decentralized marketplace.” also support multi-chains in the future.
Coinbase NFT will primarily act as a marketplace, but the company has indicated that it will also act as a “promote connections” space. To date, Coinbase is active in over 100 countries and reports on 73 million active users while Coinbase’s clients trade $ 327 billion in volume every quarter, proving that there is a fair amount of liquidity floating around.
More than the amount of volume trading, Coinbase touts its robust user experience (UX) and seamless user interface (UI) design that is streamlined and easy to use. Even if many to Twitter and complain via OpenSea’s UX / UI design, many other platforms have access barriers while OpenSea does not.
FTX-NFTs
Unlike Coinbase NFT, the FTX marketplace kicked off with a small collection of Solana-based NFTs in October and expanded its collection to include those on the Ethereum blockchain. In contrast to OpenSea and Coinbase NFT, FTX NFTs is not a P2P platform, meaning it is centralized and custody, with users’ data being recorded and stored on their respective networks. This means that users and collectors are in some way giving up ownership.
The implications of a centralized platform are that the platform tends to impose less autonomous perks on its owners and more restrictions and limitations due to concerns in securities law. In contrast to OpenSea, where users have full autonomy over their digital assets until the point of sale, FTX NFTs implements bidding mechanisms. As Brett Harrison, President of FTX.US said in a statement, “By not using gas for things like bidding, we will see a lot more price action and pricing on the platform, and we hope that liquidity in general will pick up “,
His law-abiding behavior caused such a strong impact on the Solana NFT collections that many had to revoke their previously promised royalties as FTX NFTs announced that they would no longer support projects that would give their owners such a benefit.
The consequence was regulatory concerns in the USA. Projects on the Ethereum network are also checked to make sure they comply with securities laws and are not fake counterfeits.
As such, OpenSea retains its value as it maintains the breadth of the NFT collections.
Solana NFT developer
Last week: “We need to add royalties to our project”
This week: “No license fees. We have to be on FTX”.
– Ayofinance (@ Ayofinance1) October 11, 2021
Regardless of its minor issues, the marketplace has attracted attention and undercuts its competitors in the fee structure. FTX NFTs has a 2% fee structure while Coinbase is 2.5%.
The platform doesn’t seem dismissive to users who end up using non-custody wallets either, but its primary focus is on the value of accessibility.
Rarely
Long before OpenSea was pumped to the top, Rarible had higher monthly trading volumes than its counterpart. Despite opening its platform to the community with its governance token, RARI – something OpenSea users have insisted on – Rarible was unable to maintain its earlier lead over OpenSea.
In November, the platform’s total value by volume was 4% higher than in October, averaging an estimated $ 18.2 million. However, the total monthly volume pales in comparison to OpenSea if you at least consider the daily volume average five times higher.
To Rarible’s Benefit, much like FTX’s NFT marketplace, Rarible understands the benefits of a strategic partnership with multiple chains. Rarible has already started supporting NFTs on the Flow and Tezos blockchain, and plans to support Solana and Polygon in the near future.
Monthly sales volume (primary vs. secondary). Source: Dune Analytics
With its decentralized ethos and multi-chain support from NFTs, Rarible could become a serious competitor in 2022.
Zora
Zora presents itself as a champion for Web 3.0 and decentralization, as it advertises its completely “on-chain” permissionless platform. As Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) tend to turn to these principles, the platform retains its value on historic purchases like PleasrDAOs totaling $ 4 million Purchase of the original Doge meme NFT.
web3 means that ≥1 of these criteria is met:
– Majority owned / controlled by users
– unauthorized access / branchable
– censorship resistant@rainbowdotme is open source -> web3
Coinbase Wallet is closed -> not web3@ourZORA open NFT auction standards -> web3
Open sea? Lower Austria
-. (@nir_III) December 15, 2021
Zora has a toll-free structure and focuses most of its efforts on being the cornerstone of permissionless protocol. Many crypto experts are drawn to the idea that artists and creators have more autonomy and ownership over their creations. If those concerns persist in 2022, it is possible that Zora will see an influx of new users.
Magical Eden
Magic Eden is currently the leading NFT marketplace on the Solana network and according to DappRadar it is ranked Among the top ten NFT marketplaces at $ 267.14 million since its launch in mid-September 2021.
The number of unique wallets has recovered and has grown steadily over the past two months, making them a strong contender for OpenSea. It is important to note, however, that users have more than one wallet address, which may indicate that there might be less unique active users.
OpenSea on-chain data. Source: DappRadar
Low transaction fees of 2% give the platform a competitive advantage over other marketplaces and, like FTX NFTs, listing is free for users. As shown below, the number of transactions on Magic Eden often doubles or triples the number of transactions on OpenSea.
Magic Eden on-chain data. Source: DappRadar
Although Magic Eden had a higher number of transactions, the amount per transaction is lower than with OpenSea. According to DappRadar, Magic Eden has amassed over 4.5 million transactions in the last 30 days, while OpenSea, at 1.7 million, processed less than half that number, but has a little more than five times the total volume of Magic Eden.
As the pace has been set by NFTs and digital collectibles continue to become mainstream, a larger demographic could emerge in 2022 whose preferences may not match OpenSea. Valuing accessibility, regulation, and a better user experience, these five NFT marketplaces are strong contenders for their place at the top.
The views and opinions expressed are those of the author only and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every step of investing and trading involves risk, you should do your own research when making a decision.
