Sentient Labs

What are the top NFT Marketplaces in 2022?

Whether you are just getting into non-fungible tokens or are a seasoned pro, you need to know about the top marketplaces where you can buy and sell NFTs.

You may already know that there are several options out there. And if you spend any time at all on NFT Twitter, you likely know something about the big players. But understanding the ins and outs of each platform can be daunting.

We’ve done some of the heavy lifting for you. But, as always in NFTs, be sure to do your own research as well. The things that we like or dislike might not match your style of trading or the features that you are looking for. Take your time to compare the pros and cons of each before choosing where to spend more of your time and effort.

Before you completely rule out any of these marketplaces you may want to consider at least claiming your user name on the platforms you don’t plan on regularly using. This will protect your username in the future in case you decide to start using a different NFT marketplace. And it is a good practice to prevent squatters from glomming on to your future success in the space.

We highly recommend using a marketplace for secondary purchases and sales of NFTs. While it seems attractive to do off-market or over the counter (OTC) sales to avoid paying a royalty and marketplace commission, the reality is that marketplaces help ensure that a scam does not take place. A very important piece of NFTs is the ability to support the original artist through ongoing royalties. So going off market for transactions not only opens you up to a higher likelihood of getting scammed it also does not support the original NFT creator, both of which are large downsides.

Here’s a list of 5 of the top marketplaces that you should check out and consider when buying and selling NFTs on the secondary market:

OpenSea

Arguably the biggest player on this list, OpenSea was the first NFT marketplace to pass $1 billion in monthly trading volume.

OpenSea supports NFTs on the Ethereum, Polygon, Klaytn, and Solana blockchains.

Being the big kid on the block does come with some downsides. OpenSea struggles at times, which could be attributed to their size and rapid pace of growth. Sometimes they fail to adapt quickly enough to changes in the NFT landscape while other times they weigh in too heavy handedly on issues like locking the sale of NFTs (on their platform) that were reported stollen.

OpenSea also boasts a lazy minting option for people that want to create their own NFTs. This no-code option has been used to onboard a lot of newer users. There are a couple drawbacks, for more serious collections, to using an out of the box option like this. The largest issue is that while the front end of OpenSea can display each creation as a new “collection”, each new NFT created is really part of the same OpenSea storefront collection according to the blockchain. This is because all NFTs created through the OpenSea minting process use the same core contract.

OpenSea is backed by private equity money and, earlier this year, was valued at $13.3 billion dollars after closing a $300 million series C funding round led by Paradigm and Coatue.

Recently OpenSea opened up an open source marketplace option, potentially paving the way for new competitors. Yet this is a very welcome move since it should help spur new innovation in the space.

There is currently no OpenSea token, something that longtime users have wanted and asked for.

In a space that loves decentralization, OpenSea can occasionally feel like a highly centralized behemoth. Yet there is no denying the power they have, especially for secondary sales on the Ethereum blockchain.

LooksRare

A newer kid on the block, LooksRare sprang into existence with clever vampire attack on OpenSea, a marketplace token ($LOOKS), and a lot of heavy hitters in the NFT space who backed the vision.

LooksRare currently only supports NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain.

Since launching on January 10, 2022, LooksRare has rolled out several interesting features. Users who own $LOOKS can stake their tokens to earn more $LOOKS over time. To earn additional rewards, users are encouraged to list their NFTs of specific trending collections within a certain percentage of the floor price.

Controversy has occasionally surrounded LooksRare. Most notably the majority of the early volume on LooksRare appears to have come from wash trading. Wash trades were done by users looking to earn more $LOOKS tokens and/or falsely boost the volume of their own projects.

LooksRare has continued to grow into their own. They recently launched an API for better tracking and insight and have refined new features and the UI of the site. Time will tell if the platform can grow to be a significant competitor to OpenSea. However, the continued improvements to the LooksRare marketplace are an encouraging sign.

Rarible

Launched back in 2020, Rarible played second fiddle to OpenSea for a long time where the metrics of volume traded and general popularity were concerned.

Rarible supports NFTs on the Ethereum, Polygon, Flow, Tezos, and Solana blockchains.

Rarible has a governance token called $RARI, although as of January 2022 they are no longer being distributed as a reward for sales.

Rarible also has an NFT creation platform where users can leverage the Rarible contracts to create their own NFTs. While this is suitable for newer users, the limitations of NFTs all tied to a master collection managed by the marketplace keep this from being a viable option for serious collections.

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