We are talking more and more about non-fungible tokens, however buying and selling NFTs remains a relatively complicated process for the uninitiated and like all crypto innovations the path can be risky. This is why Newsalarms has put together a step by step guide to learn how to use Opensea.
What is OpenSea?
The marketplace was co-founded by Alex Atallah, a Stanford graduate who had previously worked for Apple and other software companies. The other co-founder is Devin Finzer, a former employee of Google and Pinterest, two well-known tech giants, who attended Brown University. The company’s head office is currently located in New York City.
Opensea is considered the number one platform in terms of visibility and volume on the NFT market. We can compare opensea to a site like Ebay but for digital assets. The site obviously uses blockchain technology to secure each transaction and install traceability for purchases, this is what guarantees the uniqueness of an NFT and what allows the seller or the buyer to confirm being in possession of this digital asset.
On the opensea platform, around 4000 ETH are traded per month, and we can find more than 10 million digital assets for sale.
Site presentation
The OpenSea site is very classic and easy to access, the first page offers you to explore the different NFTs or to create your own NFTs, “ mint “.
There are also new products and NFTs put forward by Opensea because they are particularly innovative and worked.
It is possible to perform searches, NFTs, NFT collections such as the Cryptopunk collection , or accounts with NFTs.
On the right you will find a drop-down tab that will direct you to:
- Marketplace (to study the different NFTs)
- Site statistics
- The various resources such as the site status , the blog, the link for the discord community, etc.
- A link to go to your account
- And your wallet (in our case, a summary of your Metamask)
What you need to buy an NFT on Opensea
In order to create an account on opensea, no need for KYC, passports or other, all you need is a light wallet! But if you don’t know what a light wallet is, then the world of cryptocurrencies still has a few surprises in store for you.
A light wallet is a digital electronic wallet, unlike a hard wallet which is in physical form. As this tutorial does not focus on light wallets we will take a single example to guide you in this process.
The most popular light wallet is Metamask, an extremely easy to use wallet that is chrome compatible. You just have to download it, create a password and you are in possession of a wallet that can store all cryptocurrencies on many blockchains.
Once Metamask is installed and adjusted, you just have to go to Opensea and synchronize your wallet, the process is very simple and will allow you to have an account on Opensea, nothing more!
However, be careful not to lose the password for your Metamask account, as you will lose all access to Opensea at the same time.
Buy an NFT on Opensea
After having browsed the marketplace, the different collections, having informed yourself via forums, research or simply on a crush, you want to acquire your first NFT!
For this you will need crypto tokens, the leader of the sale on Opensea remains Ethereum, but it is also possible to buy from time to time with other cryptocurrencies like Solana.
You spot for example (this NFT is not offered for sale by a member of the Cointribune team and is simply there as an example guide without any incentive to buy) this NFT Shaquille O’Neal: Legend Certified from the collection Ethernity’s Master Collection for basketball fans or just a collector.
The NFT is currently listed at 0.88 ETH, it is then possible to buy it directly by clicking on “ Buy Now ”, this will ask you to confirm then a Metamask window will open and you will have to confirm the transaction. It is very important to remember that the costs of ether, therefore gas, can be extremely high and unstable, so you may have to spend maybe 20 to 200 dollars more! (Strongly ETH 2.0)
It is also possible to make an offer for a lower price, it will depend on the seller.
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If you have the 0.88 ETH + a sufficient number of ETH for gas, then you will get this NFT very quickly, it will appear on your Opensea account, so you can sell it, use it on a metaverse, etc.
You will be able to see the creation and purchase-sale history in the “ Trading History ” section, and the smart contract signature guarantees you the possession of this unique NFT.
Some NFTs exist in several thousand copies while being unique, others only exist in one copy.
Conclusion on Opensea
Opensea is therefore the ideal platform to start your NFT collection, with a few fraction of ether or other it is possible to have fun discovering this world of digital art so unique and for the lucky ones it is possible to make very good business speculating on NFTs.
