8 NFT Marketplaces You Should Explore
With the massive rise of NFTs in the previous months, it has become increasingly difficult to decide which NFT marketplace to choose to sell/buy non-fungible tokens. The 3 points you should consider would be the type of art that the marketplace is known for, the fees associated with buying/selling, and the blockchains supported.
The majority of NFT marketplaces use Ethereum as their base, whereas others have opted for the likes of Polygon (MATIC) to save on gas fees and to have a better carbon footprint.
We’ll briefly cover our top 10 marketplaces:
Opensea
There’s no doubt that Opensea is the forerunner in the NFT Marketplace space. It is one of the largest and most established marketplace at this point in time. It is home to a range of NFT types including art, photography, music, collectibles, and many more.
The platform is very easy to use and free to get started. The one draw-card is that it supports over 150 cryptocurrency payment tokens and offers both a gas (Ethereum) and gas-free (Polygon) platform for creators and buyers. Opensea also offers a range of resources that help users navigate getting started, buying, selling, creating, and general use of their platform, and navigating the NFT realm.
Rarible
Rarible is a community-owned and governed NFT platform that uses its own token, RARI, to allow users to vote on platform upgrades and any moderation that may be needed. The platform generally attracts a more niche market compared to Opensea — with the majority of users being into sports, gaming, and media along with artists releasing full collections.
The platform allows users to choose between Ethereum, RARI and Tezos at checkout. Rarible has partnered with some well-known brands, including the likes of Adobe, to secure unique work and create unique NFTs.
Binance NFT
Binance NFT is considered to be one of the most fool-proof marketplaces due to it being one of the largest and the few that are supported by its own blockchain. The sheer size and scale of the platform opens it up to exclusive partnerships and events/drops for members. The best part — if you hold BNB (the Binance currency) you can use it on the marketplace along with others like ETH, and BUSD.
SuperRare
The name gives it all away — this marketplace brings the touch of class a real-world gallery would. The platform is on the Ethereum blockchain and is comprised of curated, rare artwork. It has no time for meme-centric projects.
SuperRare doesn’t allow just anyone to sell on their marketplace, with reports stating that only 1% of artists who apply actually get accepted. This reinforces the exclusiveness of the platform and ensures you get highly-curated pieces of art.
Have a look at the SuperRare blog here.
MakersPlace
Every NFT available on MakersPlace is authentic and truly unique. The creations offer distinct authenticity by being digitally signed by the creator and recorded/verified on the blockchain. By only releasing a limited number of authentic creations, you are guaranteed scarcity and uniqueness when you mint.
MakersPlace offers a range of resources to creators and puts them in touch with like-minded individuals while putting their art in the hands (wallets) of those that appreciate unique art. Somewhat like SuperRare, MakersPlace can get quite expensive with the art being from established artists.
KnownOrigin
As one of the oldest marketplaces, KnownOrigin is focused on offering rare and collectible drops (and like the 2 marketplaces above it can get pricey). The differentiating factor here is that they are focused on time-released events, known as drops, that enable artists to control the number of copies that get released/minted. This in essence creates scarcity and could lead to the price jumping substantially.
Just like SuperRare, artists need to go through a vetting process before they are able to sell on KnownOrigin. But for the buyers, it’s a really easy-to-use platform and guarantees unique, limited edition pieces of art.
Mintable
Mintable makes NFTs easy to navigate and understand. The platform is backed by billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban and boasts a variety of content from the art, music, gaming, video, and media space.
For those that aren’t well versed in NFTs, crypto wallets, or blockchains, Mintable is probably the place to start selling (if you aren’t already). Creators can turn any piece of digital art into an NFT (GIFs, JPegs, Videos, Audio, etc) and add it to your “store” on the platform.
Mintable also offers its resources to sellers through the Mintable University. These courses are done through Mintable University and cover the basics like What are NFTs; How to Mint; Creating a store; Marketing your NFTs and a general overview of NFTs and cryptocurrency. View the resource platform here.
Momint
Momint is putting South Africa on the map when it comes to easy-to-use NFT marketplaces. The platform has dubbed itself as the “NFT Marketplace For When The Bubble Bursts” and claims to be the platform that fuels the creative ecosystem.
The platform allows users to pay for NFTs with a credit card and they don’t need to have any prior crypto or NFT experience to take part. Buyers can view a range of NFT types including collectibles, derivatives, art, utility, and many more. They currently support listing on a range of blockchains including Ethereum, Polygon, and xDai with easy-to-deploy smart contracts for businesses and creators.
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There’s definitely no shortage of marketplaces for creators and buyers to get involved in NFTs — regardless of their artistic taste, budgets, and blockchain preference.
