Best NFT marketplaces
NFTs are starting to generate staggering amounts of wealth. In January 2021, total NFT sales for the top 6 marketplaces tracked by cryptoart.io amounted to just under $12 million. By March 2021, this had ballooned to more than US$200 million. That is to say: an increase of 16 times in two months. The scary part about all of this is that NFTs are still a young space in the decentralized ecosystem. Bitcoin was born in 2009.
Having said that, what are the top NFT marketplaces right now?
There is no right answer to this. The space is so new that marketplaces are experimenting with how to best present their NFTs. Instead of a clear hierarchy, consider this list of top markets to contain some of the largest and the pros and cons of each. So while these marketplaces may be evaluated for their own particular qualities, they have been chosen for their user base and monetary volume. In other words, they were chosen with mostly objective metrics, but they were evaluated subjectively.
We will divide the ten markets chosen here into four categories:
- Open markets
- Selected markets
- Collectibles markets
- Gaming markets
Open markets are those where you can find everything from visual art to music files, collectibles and gaming items. In this way, these NFT marketplaces are more open to anyone who wants to enter the space.
Collectibles are sets of NFTs that have a similar quality mark, like CryptoPunks, for example. The CryptoPunks collectible marketplace is made in the same style, but they have varied faces and colors.
The gaming marketplaces section will include NFT marketplaces that are motivated by assets purchased in gaming apps.
Open NFT from Marketplace
1.OpenSea
OpenSea is often considered the first NFT marketplace and claims to be the largest in existence right now. DappRadar analysis agrees: OpenSea has had the highest monetary volume in recent times.
The interface is easy to use as the white and blue background makes the links nice. As perhaps the oldest open marketplace, the user interface is surprisingly intuitive. OpenSea should also be considered good for beginners to get started, because the tutorials they provide are easy to understand. And you can learn a lot about how NFT markets work using the platform.
Minting an NFT collection does not require paying gas fees (transaction fees) each time. Instead, it will ask you to pay a one-time fee once you start selling on the platform. Buyer must pay gas fees when purchasing their artwork.
However, the royalties you can earn per item are not as high as platforms like Rarible as it is capped at 10%, while Rarible's royalties can be as high as 30%. That has to be a bad thing, though, since a potential investor might have a hard time selling your work if the royalties are too high.
Additionally, you can add elements from other platforms like Mintable and Rarible to OpenSea, making it truly “open sea” in that sense.
2. Rarible
Rarible has the most users by far and for good reason: when you type the URL, the marketplace receives it instantly. Compare this to OpenSea, where you have to click the 'Explore' button to see what's on offer. Rarible's user interface is similar to Pop and offers a fun atmosphere. The yellow theme accentuates this and makes the platform look fast, busy and calm. She doesn't take herself very seriously.
The day's top sellers and some advertised NFT prospects are also displayed at the top, making it easy to interact right away. This marketability is probably one of the main reasons why the user base is so high. That and seeing occasional celebrities like Mark Cuban and Lindsey Lohan participate in the combo. Rarible makes the NFT space comforting for the average user. It's less about being on the cutting edge of artistic technology and more about a joyful commitment to a community of artists.
However, minting NFTs on the platform requires upfront gas. If you're just starting out, this could be incredibly expensive. For transactions alone, you're looking at $100 worth of ETH on a busy day. On the other hand, you can set your royalties really high, up to 30%. If you are confident that the value of your NFT will remain high even with those royalties, then this might be the way you want to mint your NFTs.
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Selected markets
3.Foundation
Foundation is not your average market. At Foundation, the community votes on the artwork that will appear in the app, making it more P2P, like the technology NFTs are based on. If you want to apply to become an artist, you must create an account and add your name to the Upvote Community. After this, its fate will be decided by how the community votes for your art. If you'd like to vote once you're a verified member, log in, check out the list of creators, and then support the artists you prefer. Foundation aims to put “the power in the hands of creators.” As of now, it is not completely user-curated, but aims to be completely peer-to-peer once the community grows. Although its user base continues to grow,
The user interface is black and futuristic. The images are large, clear and professional. The top left corner has black solid shapes: a triangle, a circle, a square. Below each NFT up for bidding is a solid black bar, with each auctioned NFT well spaced. The minimalist, black aesthetic definitely makes the platform look cutting-edge and professional.
A possible drawback of a purely user-selected platform is that there could be a dominant style that permeates the space if all users share their view on “what is art.” This could hinder the diversification of the platform. On the other hand, one could argue that this quality will help Foundation solidify a particular thematic style.
4. SuperRare
Founded in 2017, originally curated marketplace SuperRare lives up to its name. Each work is unique. This means that the art you see does not have a minted copy. Therefore it is “Super Rare”. The platform is marketed as a mix of Christie's, the famous high-end auction house, and Instagram. In a sense, they achieve this aura, which has a lot to do with their top-notch publishing . There, we get a sneak peek at the artists, their styles, acclaim, and stories. This gives the platform a strong, high-end presence.
Instead of a community vote, an artist must submit their work to be uploaded and the SuperRare staff will decide. This makes the average quality of the art really high. Its spirit revolves around the love of collecting. SuperRare believes in collecting as a social act that users will participate in, and this shared fascination unites the community. The gallery receives 15% of the commission on a first sale, while the artist receives 85%. Thereafter, the original artist receives 3% of the royalties.
SuperRare uses a minimal, professional-looking interface. Still, it doesn't look as clean as Foundation. The name SuperRare also doesn't sound as sophisticated as Foundation. SuperRare is “stating the obvious,” while the word Foundation gives a universal feel. Despite this, SuperRare makes a good case with the rarity and reputation of the artwork. Additionally, the aforementioned editorial does wonders to elevate its SuperRare image.
5. Nifty Gateway
As shown in the crypto art chart at the top of the article, Nifty Gateway boasts the most impressive sales figures of all the selected art markets. With brands like Steve Aoki, Calvin Harris, Grimes and The Weeknd, Nifty Gateway really has big names auctioning off their art.
What makes Nifty Gateway such a powerful force in the NFT world? Simple. You can pay by credit card. Users do not have to set up a Metamask and pay with Ethereum, making it easier to identify. The platform does the work of bringing centralized processes to decentralized processes for you. In this way, Nifty Gateway bridges the gap between the general population and the decentralized world. Their mission is to bring NFTs to a billion people.
However, those who want a purer decentralized world may not like the idea of such a large market for NFTs. This gives it a contradictory feeling. And while their platform is home to some big-name artists, it's not so much a "high-end" feel, with just the simple design of white space between each NFT. Still, Nifty Gateway is an inspiring platform and has done a lot to push NFTs into the mainstream consciousness.
Collectibles markets
6. CryptoPunks
With only 10,000 of these available, CryptoPunks remain some of the most valuable NFTs out there. Founded by LarvaLabs, these simple, pixelated portraits are valuable for their origin: some of the first NFTs available on the Ethereum blockchain. There are only nine strange 'alien punks'. These editions originally sold for less than US$100. Four years later, they are worth up to millions.
The website isn't the most varied in terms of what you can buy, but it has a definite pink-purple color scheme. Although you can find some of these CryptoPunks on OpenSea, they are carefully distributed on larvalabs.com. The thing is, just by virtue of being a revolutionary point in blockchain history, this deserves a place as one of the best markets in the world.
7. NBA Top Shot
Although relatively new, NBA Top Shot is already one of the most financially successful NFT marketplaces, with over 340,000 users. According to DappRadar, NBA Top Shot has already earned more than $180 million per month. In comparison, Cryptopunks has had a monetary volume of around $250 million. NBA Top Shot only came out at the end of 2020. CryptoPunks has been around since 2017!
Visually, the aesthetic is much more advanced than the CryptoPunk feel, the collectibles are 3D highlight reels of NBA moments. Dapper Labs has made impressive designs that really look like the future of NFT collectibles. The only blow would be to decentralization purists, who don't believe they should be bought with fiat currency. Otherwise, the design and presentation is something you would expect from one of the biggest sports in the world.
8. Ether Cards
The line between art and trading cards is fine. And Ether Cards are very original. The platform is curated by the Ether Cards team and the quality of the artists they have is top notch. Artists can personalize their artwork on collectible cards with their own unique qualities, 'gamified' according to EtherCards. The website design is sleek and professional, rivaling anything on the market right now.
Each of the artists has well-written biographies that explain their work, elaborating well on their vision. They also place extra emphasis on collecting complete sets from one owner. Each card you own will have its own qualities attached to it. You can unlock different ones depending on what you get. You can also get bonuses if you have full sets of cards. Although the platform is not as accessible to those not yet interested in NFTs, it has provided innovative and unique ideas for the space.
Gaming markets
9. Axie Infinity
If you like strategy games and cute creatures, Axie Infinity is the one for you. In it you can create a team of monsters, or Axie, to fight other monsters using their collected cards. You can even raise your own monsters to create a new Axie. Once he feels comfortable with the mechanics, he uses the adorable creatures of his to fight other players.
At the market, Axie's monsters, items, and plots of terrain are auctioned off. The beauty of the platform is attractive to those who are not normally interested in the decentralized world. Large buttons and attractive design make the interface easy to access. With a healthy sales volume and user base, Axie Infinity has established itself as a prominent gaming and NFT marketplace.
10. Decentraland
Although some may have problems with calling Decentraland a game, its virtual reality world looks a lot like the Sandbox video game. It's a game like Minecraft: you're given a set of tools and rules to build the world to your imagination. At Decentraland, you can buy parcels of digital NFT land and build whatever you want on them. Some players have built museums housing their NFT art, put games on their land, or even created marketplaces on them. Other users have also made a lot of money buying parcels of digital land to sell later. Yes, the shift to digital real estate is a real possibility.
You might ask “how on earth can digital land be so valuable? If a company advertises on it, they can enter their virtual building from anywhere in the world and interact. There will be features where you can click on the banner ads and you will be redirected to the advertiser's website. The options are only limited by creativity.
That said, it's a pretty complicated platform, so it might be difficult for those not used to sandbox-style worlds. However, users will be satisfied that they created the world… and the possibilities are endless.
