While the crypto market struggles to find any positive news, OpenSea just threw a major announcement. This new update is set to revamp the way NFTs are traded. It’s been a while since the crypto market witnessed any significant positive news. What is Seaport Opensea? Will the NFT market bounce back and continue to breakthrough? Let’s find out.
What are NFTs?
Non-fungible tokens (or NFTs for short) are digital ownership tokens that operate on blockchains like Ethereum that allow smart contracts. Their non-fungibility is similar to the inability to swap one contract for another in the real world because the “actual substance” differs. Similarly, you can’t swap NFTs since their underlying “contract” changes with each one, resulting in their non-fungibility.
>> For an extensive guide on NFTs, make sure to read this article <<
What is OpenSea Platform?
OpenSea is the first and largest NFT marketplace, specializing in all types of non-fungible tokens (NFT). Users can sell art, gaming cards, collectibles, virtual objects, domain names, and other products. Any other similar platform’s diversity and transaction volume pale in comparison to OpenSea. The platform contains auction functions as well as crypto infrastructure connectors.
The platform grew significantly thanks to the rising fame of NFTs in the mainstream media. Many millionaires came to be thanks to trading NFTs, and they all boast using OpenSea as a platform.
Is Opensea centralized or decentralized?
The platform Opensea is a marketplace for NFTs exchange. They currently do not have a token for the project. Maybe in the future, they’ll seek to open ownership to the public, but for now, this project is privately owned by the founders and some private investors. According to CrunchBase, the platform is operated by 2 developers and has 15 investors.
Opensea is a centralized entity, that operates on a decentralized blockchain. The code that the company uses to tally its income and expenses is centralized, while the ownership of NFTs through the blockchain is decentralized.
OpenSea announces Seaport – What is Seaport?
Seaport is a decentralized protocol that allows anyone to operate as an NFT marketplace. NFT ownerships reside on the Ethereum blockchain (or any other blockchain that operates using smart-contracts), while the operation runs through the Seaport protocol. This update will be open source, hence why many will be able to enter this market. There are many benefits to using the Seaport protocol:
- Decentralization
- Opening up to contract optimization alternatives
- Trading NFTs for NFTs (instead of buying NFTs for Cryptos)
- Dutch auctions (a strategy of selling that involves lowering the price until a customer buys)
Why is Seaport good for the NFT market?
In addition to the above-mentioned benefits of Seaport, this new protocol is set to open up the market for new entrants. This will definitely create competition in the NFT industry, which usually creates faster innovation. This will also increase the notoriety of NFTs, bringing in turn the barriers to entry. Currently, OpenSea is not operational in several countries across the world. When other companies enter the NFT industry using Seaport, they might open up to those closed countries, increasing in the turn the demand for NFTs, raising their prices alongside the crypto market.
Additionally, OpenSea is holding a two-week audit competition with a total prize fund of $1 million. Any developer may audit the code and report any issues or flaws they uncover, and they will receive a reward for their efforts. You can simply check this link for more details.
