The Finest NFT Marketplaces

Besides the above, you should also know that NFT marketplaces are, for the most part, blockchain specific. This means they are associated with a particular blockchain that’s tied to certain types of tokens compatible with that blockchain. For example, Opensea uses ETH (Ethereum). That means it can also support Klatyn, Polygon, and Solana tokens.

There are also marketplaces that are multi-chain and support different blockchains.

So, for today’s exercise, we identified the most popular exchanges in the Binance Smart Chain, Solana, and Cardano.

In the case of Ethereum, the chain that hosts the most successful NFT collections, we expanded the search to three marketplaces.

Let’s start with Ethereum and work our way backward.

The best definition comes from their Instagram, Rarible is a “multichain community-centric NFT marketplace.”

It fully supports three blockchains: Ethereum, Tezos, and Flow. A fourth, Polygon, is currently in Beta. This means that a Rarible wallet (to be linked) can hold NFTs from all those chains in what they call a “Multi-Wallet Profile.”

Comfortable as this seems, the service is even better because Rarible’s wallets are non-custodial (“non-custodial” means you are the only person that controls the wallet).

“You can switch between the supported blockchains under the “Explore” tab on Rarible.com. When you mint your (first) NFT, you need to choose which blockchain it’s on,” instructs the protocol’s FAQ.

What does this mean for you as an artist? It means that you will be giving more options to your potential collectors, and that’s good. The downside is that your crypto assets (your “money”) would be as volatile as each token you get paid for your art.

According to the project’s website, “Nifty Gateway was founded with a very simple mission - to make NFTs accessible to everyone.”

This NFT marketplace plays with the gallery-style and usually works “with top artists and brands to create collections of limited edition, high-quality NFTs, exclusively available on our platform.”

On Nifty anyone can apply to get their collection featured, and many are selected.

The site’s main characteristic is a controversial one.

Nifty Gateway is custodial, “this means that NFTs on our platform are stored in a secured wallet, powered by Gemini’s state-of-the-art custody technology.”

Oh yeah, that’s another thing. In 2020, the Winklevoss twins purchased the platform, so Nifty Gateway is a Gemini product.

Leaving modesty aside, on its official website, OpenSea describes itself as “the world’s first and largest digital marketplace for crypto collectibles and non-fungible tokens.”

The creators released the OpenSea beta in December 2017 and it struck a nerve. A whole industry appeared out of nowhere and in a few months: “today, we’re proud to remain the largest general marketplace for user-owned digital items.”

The OpenSea empire currently supports these blockchains: Ethereum, Klatyn, Polygon, and Solana.

Its main weapon has always been the simple, effective, and beautiful User Experience (known as UX in the development world). The OpenSea platform is easy to use and has an intuitive, user-friendly interface.

According to themselves, the team behind this newly minted Cardano NFT marketplace has “the collective knowledge and experience to bring this solution to life, as our developers have previously worked on NFT-Art solutions and we already have established relationships with well-known artists.”

Needless to say, “Galaxy of Art is an environmentally friendly digital marketplace.”

According to Magic Eden’s official site, their team “identified gaps in existing NFT marketplaces and created something new.”

One of those creations is Magic Ticket, the platform’s own NFT collection that was airdropped to 30,000 users.

“Holding a Magic Ticket gives holders access to our discord-based DAO, MagicDAO, where we deliver interconnectivity via social programs and rewards to the community,” Magic Eden’s team said.

According to Dappradar, “Magic Eden outperforms big names in the NFT space like Foundation, Rarible, and SuperRare.”

As with everything Binance, this marketplace might not have the best name, but it certainly has great UX and the lowest fees around.

Also, some exciting, albeit copied, ideas. For example, you can easily create a Mystery Box, which consists of “a chance to win rare NFTs in a box full of surprises.”

Another key feature is that it easily connects users with their usual Binance experience, “the Binance NFT Marketplace is instantly linked to your Binance mobile app user account and wallet.”