Best NFT Marketplaces: The Top List
If you want in on the NFT craze, an NFT marketplace is your gateway. Learn about the top NFT marketplaces, what each one offers, and how you can get started buying and selling digital assets today.
- By NFTExplained
- March 23, 2022
NFTs have been around for a long time, but they became so popular only in 2021. Every now and then you hear about someone buying or selling NFTs worth millions of dollars like Beeple’s NFT sold for $69.3 million, or Twitter’s founder selling his first tweet for just under $3 million.
But where are these people buying or selling NFTs, and what are they buying exactly? In this article, we’ll try to answer these questions and you’ll learn all you need to know about the best NFT marketplaces.
NFT: Quick Explanation
NFT stands for a non-fungible token, a unique crypto token linked to all kinds of digital content, such as artworks, videos, games. Non-fungible means unique, something that can’t be replaced with anything else. Compared to bitcoin, each NFT is unique. If you trade one bitcoin for another, you’ll get exactly the same thing. But if you trade an NFT for another one, you’ll get something completely different.
NFTs are part of the Ethereum blockchain, which is a cryptocurrency like bitcoin. The difference is that Ethereum’s blockchain also supports NFTs. It’s worth noting that other blockchains can have their versions of NFTs.
NFTs can be anything digital – artwork, music, videos, 3D models, etc. But what makes NFTs so special? I mean, you can always download any photo, music, video whenever you want and it’s completely free. The thing is, when you buy an NFT you buy the ownership of the work. It’s similar to buying a painting. Anyone can buy a print of Picasso’s or Dali’s artwork, but only one can own the original work.
Top NFT Marketplaces
Let’s get to marketplaces. Whether you’re a buyer or seller, NFTs can be really profitable for you. But, there are so many NFT marketplaces where you can buy, sell or even create an NFT, that you might get confused. That’s why we’ve collected this list of the top marketplaces divided by categories so that you can choose the ones that best fit your goals.
All Kinds of NFTs
OpenSea is the first and the largest peer-to-peer NFT marketplace. It offers a large range of NFTs, from photos, artworks and music to in-game items and collectibles. The platform is very easy to use, it’s free to sign-up and browse millions of offerings, with centralized management of NFTs. OpenSea also offers some helpful features to artists and creators. It only requires a 2.5% brokerage fee, which is more than competitive compared to other platforms.
It’s no wonder that the largest crypto exchange Binance has launched one of the top NFT marketplaces. The launch was a big event considering the number of transactions made on the day of launch. And if you already have a Binance account, then you won’t need to sign up for a new account on Binance NFT. This platform is developed on Binance Smart Chain (BSC) and it offers a wide range of digital artworks and collectibles.
An Ethereum-based community-owned NFT marketplace Rarible is one of the leading platforms. Many think that Rarible is the biggest competitor to OpenSea. And similar to OpenSea, it offers a wide range of digital art and collectibles. The platform also enables you to create more than one NFT for a single image. So you can sell the image more than once and increase your earnings.
Rarible’s interface is quite user-friendly and easy to use, and it’s simple for beginners. You can log in using different crypto wallets. It’s also great for creators, as they can program royalties to the platform and get a cut if their work is sold by the buyer. Besides, you don’t have to have coding experience to be able to create NFTs on this platform.
Mintable is an open marketplace just like OpenSea. It offers all kinds of NFTs and supports the minting of NFTs for creators. In order to trade on the platform, you need Ethereum. This platform is user-friendly and a great choice for beginners.
Unlike the majority of marketplaces, BakerySwap is built not on Ethereum but Binance Smart Chain (BSC). This platform offers different kinds of NFTs: art, music, videos, game assets, etc. This marketplace is just one section of the platform, which besides trading NFTs, allows users to trade and exchange liquidity assets with one another. As with other platforms, you’ll need a crypto wallet to be able to trade on this marketplace. Keep in mind that on BakerySwap you can only trade NFTs with BNB, not ETHs.
Atomic Market is different from other platforms, as it’s not a simple marketplace, but rather a shared liquidity NFT market and is used by many websites. It means that when something is listed on one market it becomes available on other markets too. This feature increases your chances to sell your NFTs, as they will be shown on many websites. Besides, NFTs of well-known collections are being verified on this market, which makes it easy to spot any fakes.
Digital Art and Collectibles
SuperRare is a more higher-end alternative to Rarible. It aims to encourage the creation and collection of crypto art. The platform provides a more curated, gallery-like experience to its users.
SuperRare is Ethereum based platform and ETH is the only payment method on it. To create an account you need a supported wallet like MetaMask or Formatic. The platform offers royalties for creators. But in order to list your works, you need to get them approved. Besides, you can buy or sell your works on the OpenSea platform as well. SuperRare has a very user-friendly interface, but it has higher commission rates compared to other platforms.
Nifty Gateway may not be as famous as OpenSea or Axie Marketplace, but it’s one of the top NFT marketplaces. By May 2021, the platform has reached $300 million in gross merchandise value. The platform is owned by the crypto exchange Gemini. It hosts artists like The Weeknd, Grimes and Eminem and offers a heavily curated selection of NFT “drops”. Drops are very popular as they are available only for a limited period of time and tend to sell out due to FOMO. As you might have already guessed, the platform focuses more on music and art.
The platform is quite easy to use, even for starters. All you have to do is to register an account and load up your account with some funds. One of the biggest advantages of this platform is the possibility to purchase NFTs using USD currency directly. However, it has a 5% marketplace fee.
Foundation has sold more than $100 million worth of memes and digital art since its release in early 2021. It’s one of the best platforms for new users who are interested in NFT art. The platform is very easy to use, both creators and buyers will find it simple to get started. Besides, the creators receive a 10% royalty whenever their work is sold. However, the platform has rather high commission rates.
CryptoPunks are characters with pixel art aesthetics and unique attributes. Larva Labs gave free CryptoPunks in 2017 to the public, but some of them are now traded for millions of dollars. That’s why it’s one of the top marketplaces, with $1.3 billion of the trading volume. CryptoPunks were the first NFT collectibles project. It’s easy to use for beginners.
This marketplace has a lower trading volume compared to others, but it offers a very exclusive collection of digital art. The site went down in February 2021, when the famous crypto artist Beeple offered its collection of NFTs for $1 for each piece. Though, MakersPlace has hosted a lot of NFT drops by partnering with famous artists like T-Pain or Shakira. The platform is very simple to use, you can even sign up with your Google or Facebook account.
KnownOrigin has a relatively smaller trading volume – $6.9 million, but it provides a curated, highly aesthetic experience for NFT art enthusiasts. You won’t find cute pixel characters or crazy avatars here, but rather true works of digital art. The artworks on this platform are held on IPFS, which provides protection for the underlying assets. The marketplace is simple to use. You just need to connect your crypto wallet to it and start trading NFTs.
This is another art marketplace, which is built on Hive, a fast and free blockchain. This platform is open to all creatives, working in all styles and genres, from beginners to professional artists. So if other art marketplaces welcome only experienced artists and collectors, this marketplace is great if you’re just starting NFT art trading. The platform is quite easy to use, you just need to have a Hive account and Hive Keychain. If you’re selling your art for the first time, the platform will collect a 10% commission fee. For secondary sales, it will collect a 10% commission fee and give it to the original artist.
Solanart is based on the Solana blockchain which is considered the biggest rival of Ethereum. You can find different kinds of collections on this platform, including art and game collections. The marketplace has proved itself quite successful with collections sold for hundreds of millions of dollars. Unlike bigger marketplaces like OpenSea, Solanart offers more curated collections and offers a limited selection of NFTs. In order to trade on this platform, you need to have a Solana wallet.
Sports
This is the perfect marketplace for sports enthusiasts. NBA Top Shot offers trading cards featuring NBA video clips. It’s super simple to use this platform, that’s why it has become so popular. You can sign up by linking your Google account to Dapper, entering your phone number and setting up your account. You can trade NFTs using your crypto wallets or credit cards. NBA Top Shot is a closed marketplace, which means you can only trade NBA NFTs on their site.
Sorare is a fantasy soccer league where you can collect NFT cards and use them in competitions. On this platform, you can not only buy and sell NFTs but also use them to play one of the most popular games. It has more than 180 licensed clubs including Major League Soccer. You can become part of the league by buying low-cost digital players or you can trade with expensive collectibles. For the record, one of the rarest cards featuring Kylian Mbappe was sold for $65,000. Sorare uses Ethereum for trading NFTs.
Games
Axie marketplace is the second largest NFT marketplace. Axie Infinity is an NFT-powered video game platform that has more than 2 million active users. This could be the perfect marketplace for game enthusiasts, as the platform trades exclusively in Axies – pokemon-like digital pets. Users trading Axies do not buy them just for collecting but to use them in the game and fight in the battles against other players.
Though this is a very famous marketplace, it might be hard for beginners. You have to pass through many requirements just to play the game. Besides your Ethereum wallet, you’ll have to set up a Ronin and buy a minimum of three Axies from Axie marketplace, which can cost you several hundred dollars. However, it’s a great platform for more advanced crypto users.
Waves Ducks is another successful game project which also allows you to trade NFTs. This is a play-to-earn game, where you can not only trade NFTs but also earn them by playing. Users compete with each other to earn tokens, which are used to buy NFT ducks on the marketplace.
The ducks are used to develop a duck farm. Ducks with rare combinations of “genetic materials” can be quite expensive. This platform has become so popular as players can earn passive income from their farms. And the best players already earn $100,000 a month.
Similar to Tamagotchi, Aavegotchis are digital pets and playable NFTs backed by the ERC721 standard. This platform is a unique combination of NFTs and DeFi (decentralized finance). It allows you to receive greater returns and long-term profits on NFTs.
You can use Aavegotchis to play the game, fight and bring honor to the guild of ghosts. The value of Aavegotchis is based on three attributes – spirit force, wearables, and traits. You can start playing the game by connecting your wallet to the platform and summoning or buying your first Aavegotchi.
Virtual World Assets
Decentraland is the first fully decentralized virtual world, which has almost the same functionality as the real world. Users can create and trade all sorts of assets, lands, wearables and many other things. Through the DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization), the community members can vote on updates, decide on LAND policy and auctions, and which NFT contracts are allowed inside the world. Decentraland is one of the biggest crypto meta platforms. The marketplace is a zero-fee application built on Ethereum.
Like Decentraland, The Sandbox is a decentralized, community-driven ecosystem, where users can create, buy and sell LAND tokens, voxel assets and gaming experiences. Besides that, users can play games and create their own games on the platform. So, this is one of the best NFT marketplaces for game enthusiasts. And for starting your journey on this platform, again you’ll need to connect your crypto wallet to it.
Final Thoughts
If you have a passion for digital art or crypto, then it’s really worth it to try yourself in the world of NFTs. It’s a new and fast-growing industry and no one knows yet how it can change our future. And now is the best time to start trading and creating NFTs.
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