The Unofficial OpenSea Wiki
With so many new crypto games and dapps being released every day, the need has arisen for a marketplace where all types of collectibles can be traded together. OpenSea has attempted to meet that need with a simple interface that lets users buy and sell non-fungible tokens easily. To better understand this class of assets, try this article on crypto collectibles. This video was made with Ezvid Wikimaker.
Can I Buy And Sell Coins On OpenSea?
OpenSea is a marketplace for ERC-721 tokens. That means unique assets like CryptoKitties or Factbar, and games like Ether Shrimp Farm and CryptoCities. These tokens are non-fungible, which means each one has its own unique value. Fungible tokens like Ether or coins issued through an ICO can be bought and sold on marketplaces like ForkDelta.
Comparing OpenSea and Rare Bits
Is OpenSea Necessary To Own Crypto Collectibles?
You don't have to use OpenSea when looking for these collectibles. Websites like DappRadar have many listings of dapps, each of which has its own smart contract to manage the buying and selling of assets, which can be purchased using an extension like MetaMask. Websites like OpenSea and Rare Bits exist to allow those who have many different assets to keep track of them and market them more effectively. For more on how the process of buying and selling a crypto collectible actually works, check out this guide on how to claim a Factbar.
ERCs Explained
In Depth
OpenSea rose to popularity as the first peer-to-peer marketplace for crypto collectibles. Users can buy and sell rare digital items using smart contracts, with over two dozen dapps available on which to trade. To understand how OpenSea works and the advantages it can give users, let's take a look at these cryptogoods and how they get their value.
You may be familiar with Bitcoin, the popular cryptocurrency that employs blockchain technology. The use of a decentralized ledger ensures that users can verify transactions without a central authority. Bitcoin is like any other currency in that it is fungible, which means that, like dollars, they are all the same. If you have two Bitcoins, and you plan to sell one, it doesn't matter which one you sell because they're worth the same amount.
There are many more types of coins, most of which are traded on exchanges using Ethereum, a popular cryptocurrency that has grown in part due to a set of standards called ERC20 that regulate how the smart contracts of those coins are designed. A company will issue an I.C.O., and investors purchase that company's coins with Ethereum. Those coins can then be traded using Ethereum's blockchain.
There are many more types of coins, most of which are traded on exchanges using Ethereum, a popular cryptocurrency that has grown in part due to a set of standards called ERC20 that regulate how the smart contracts of those coins are designed.
The versatility of Ethereum has also led to another class of assets known as crypto collectibles. These are unique assets like CryptoKitties and Factbar, which aren't traded on exchanges. They're traded on websites that have their own smart contracts, or dapps.
Collectibles like Factbars are non-fungible. Each one is unique, and has its own unique value. This means that if you are the owner of a particular Factbar, you are the only person with that Factbar. No one else can own it unless they claim it from you. Highly desirable Factbars are therefore worth a great deal of money. Factbars aren't a currency, they are unique digital assets.
This led to an explosion of blockchain-based games in which users would purchase digital items. Some of the most popular were CryptoCountries, in which players bought representations of countries with varying values, and CryptoKitties, where users can buy and breed digital cats. There are also idle games like Ether Shrimp Farm, where your holdings grow as time passes, and CryptoCities, a complex strategy game. Millions of dollars worth of Ethereum has been traded through these games.
This led to an explosion of blockchain-based games in which users would purchase digital items.
Beyond games, there are assets that can be traded like Factbars, online representations of facts that are researched and verified so their owners can use the brand as a seal of approval online. You can use these images in YouTube videos or on websites, and as their accuracy is reinforced through the online community, they can be claimed by other users and their value will increase.
All of these dapps have their own smart contracts, so you can purchase them with Ethereum on their websites. Using a site like Coinbase, you can purchase Ether, then add it to a MetaMask wallet to make purchases. But since they're all bought and held on individual sites, those who play multiple games may want to view their entire collections in one place. That's where OpenSea comes in.
Launched in 2018, OpenSea acts as a marketplace for many different dapps, so players can trade assets and developers can introduce new games to an audience that may be interested in them. These assets range from games like CryptoKitties and CryptoBots to artwork from creators like John Orion Young.
These assets range from games like CryptoKitties and CryptoBots to artwork from creators like John Orion Young.
In the marketplace, you can view all the tokens listed, or filter so that you only see those that are available for sale. Popular games like CryptoKitties dominate the marketplace for now, but the variety of assets available is good news for anyone who wants to diversify the types of tokens they acquire.
The stream feature lets you stay up to date on any activity happening in your games, and the listings contain a full transaction history as well as a breakdown of that token's properties. Buying is simple, since the site uses MetaMask. You can easily connect your account to manage your auctions.
Developers can also collaborate with OpenSea to add their games, adapt them to better fit OpenSea's layout, or create new games aimed at OpenSea users. There are other marketplaces propping up, such as Rare Bits, but OpenSea does have the advantage of having gotten out of the gate first.
There are other marketplaces propping up, such as Rare Bits, but OpenSea does have the advantage of having gotten out of the gate first.
Although OpenSea does have many dapps available, there are also many that it doesn't have. And since most Ethereum users are still trading fungible tokens on exchanges, we don't know yet which marketplace will win out. For now, though, OpenSea has an easy-to-understand interface that you can use to get involved in crypto games quickly and find assets that you may not have heard of yet, some of which could become very popular very soon.
