What is OpenSea, How is it Used?

Many people, who do not understand how works of art can find buyers for millions or even billions of dollars, have been introduced to a completely different concept in recent years and their minds have been thoroughly confused. These digital artworks called NFTs, like other artworks, find buyers at unbelievable prices. OpenSea, one of the platforms where many digital assets, especially NFT, are bought and sold, is one of the most popular among them.

It is possible to say that OpenSea is a digital marketplace in its most general definition. You can buy and sell many different digital assets, especially NFT, on this platform. All transactions are carried out through cryptocurrencies, and the security of these transactions is also provided by blockchain systems. Let’s take a closer look at what OpenSea is and see what you need to know to use this platform.

What is OpenSea?

OpenSea; It is a digital asset shopping website developed by Alex Atallah and Devin Finzer and published in January 2018. On OpenSea, also referred to as a digital marketplace, you can buy and sell digital assets called NFTs, as well as game items, domains, and digital representations of physical assets.

All trading on the OpenSea website is carried out using cryptocurrencies. All purchases made in accordance with the digital world are carried out securely by blockchain systems. The OpenSea platform runs this trading system by taking a certain share of all purchases.

What does OpenSea do?

Like many things in today’s world, art has now become digital. All these digital artworks are called Non Fungible Token, NFT for short. NFT artworks are digital assets owned by the purchaser, which cannot be copied or modified. NFT artifacts are produced and protected with blockchain technology.

When you ask me to buy an NFT digital artwork, OpenSea and similar digital marketplaces come into play. We go to the grocery store to buy fruit, to the bakery to buy bread, and to digital marketplaces such as OpenSea when we want to buy NFT. In other words, OpenSea is a website where you can buy and sell digital assets.

How to become a member of OpenSea?

You can review all digital assets for sale in the OpenSea digital marketplace, which you can access via the link here, without being a member. However, when you say you want to buy one of these or you want to sell digital assets, you need to be a member of the platform. Subscribing to the OpenSea platform is completely free, but not very easy.

In order to become a member of the OpenSea digital shopping site, you must first have a crypto wallet. It is recommended to have this wallet, as Ethereum cryptocurrency is generally used in NFT trading. However, since you can transact with all cryptocurrencies on the platform, any crypto wallet will work for you.

After connecting your crypto wallet to the OpenSea platform, you will be asked for some information, as when registering with any shopping site. After sharing this information accurately and up-to-date, you can become an OpenSea member and trade digital assets as you wish on the platform.

How to use OpenSea?

Let’s come to the question that users are most curious about, how to use OpenSea? Let’s say you became an OpenSea member, liked a few of the digital assets on sale and decided to buy it. Do not be in a hurry, some digital assets are sold at a certain price so that they can be bought immediately. However, some are in the process of auctioning or will only stay on sale for a certain period of time.

After you bid on the digital assets you want to buy in the OpenSea digital marketplace in the cryptocurrency you want to pay, start waiting. When the process is completed and you have the right to purchase the digital asset, the transaction will take place and the work in question will be yours.

Of the digital assets on the OpenSea platform, those for sale are presented under the title of On Sale, those that are bid on Has Offers, those that are on pre-sale are Pre-Sale, those that are awarded Has Bounty, those that are auctioned are presented under the title of Auctions, and those that are sold in bundles are presented under the title of Bundles. Some digital assets find buyers at fixed prices, while others become the highest bidder because they are auctioned.

How does OpenSea work?

Although OpenSea looks like a shopping site we know, it has a different working principle because it is crypto money and blockchain. For example; When you buy a product from any shopping site, you pay the money first, the money is stored by the platform, the seller sends the product, you receive the product, you confirm the transaction and the money is transferred to the seller. If there is a disruption in this process, you will contact the shopping site.

When you shop on the OpenSea digital marketplace, such a process does not work because OpenSea uses a system that is given the Wyvern Protocol. In this system, whose security is provided by blockchain technology, neither money is paid first nor the product is delivered first. Both the buyer and the seller make a commitment to purchase. When an agreement is reached, all shopping is completed in a single transaction. NFT is yours as soon as it is sold. If no agreement is reached, nothing will happen. So completely safe.

As with many digital asset buying and selling transactions, especially NFT, the basic cryptocurrency is Ethereum when you shop through OpenSea. It is therefore recommended that OpenSea users have an Ethereum wallet. But you can also trade with a different cryptocurrency. When you use a different cryptocurrency, the transaction is completed by converting that currency to Ethereum.

Is OpenSea reliable?

We can say that OpenSea is safe as there have been no fraud complaints about it so far, but at this point, it is no longer OpenSea. In a system secured with blockchain technology, you do not have to trust either the platform or the vendor. Because blockchain technology provides an unchangeable security system independent of individuals and institutions. It is the most secure digital data system for now.

We talked about the details you need to know about the subject by answering the questions such as what is OpenSea, the platform where you can trade many different digital assets, especially NFT, what it does, how it is used. You can share your thoughts on digital marketplaces like NFT and OpenSea in the comments.