NFT has been around for a few years, but won’t be known to the general public until 2021.

Unique cryptographic tokens that represent ownership of digital content such as works of art, music or videos. But it was the digital art scene that blew up the NFT market, with record sales like the $ 69.3 million Beeple auction at Christie’s that shocked the world.

Since then, enthusiasts have warmly welcomed one NFT craze after another, spending thousands (and in some cases millions) of dollars on CryptoPunks, Bored Apes, and Loot.

But where do they buy these NFTs? A thriving virtual street of NFT markets has mushroomed, selling digital art and collectibles at every possible price. Here are some of the top platforms.

Open sea

OpenSea is the original peer-to-peer NFT marketplace and the largest. At the time of writing, the platform has a total trading volume of over $ 6.5 billion, according to the analytics platform DappRadar, features NFTs of everything from in-game items and collectibles to works of art, music, GIFs, and more.

The OpenSea registration steps are quite simple, like connecting the MetaMask wallet, while other wallets like Coinbase Wallet, Bitski, Formatic, … are also supported.

Once connected, to buy NFT you will need to browse the various collections or find something you love before making an offer and see if it will be accepted.

Uploading your own NFT work isn’t complicated either. Just go to the create tab, connect your wallet as a creator and you can upload your NFT, fill in the description and wait for millions of people to see it.

Axie Infinity Marketplace

NFT-powered video games Axie Infinity hosts the second largest NFT market with total trading volume of more than $ 2.1 billion, according to Dappradar. It trades exclusively in Axies – cute Pokémon-like digital pets that players can buy and trade in the Axie Marketplace.

You can also create new axes through the game’s built-in hatching mechanism and sell them on the marketplace. Unlike the NFT, which is a collection of artwork for a hobby, the Axie Infinity NFT is used in-game to fight monsters and other players, and earn tokens that can be used to breed creatures. Axie Infinity’s NFTs are so lucrative that it has been proven that some players in the Philippines and Indonesia make a living growing and selling them.

However, Axie Infinity is one of the most complicated NFT services to use for new users, and you have to go through a few laps before you can start playing the game.

In addition to an Ethereum wallet like MetaMask, you also need to set up a Ronin wallet, deposit ETH into Ronin and buy at least 3 Axies from the Axie Marketplace (worth a few hundred dollars). This number may be overwhelming to the average person, but it’s not out of reach for the seasoned crypto user.

CryptoPunks / Larva Labs

CryptoPunks was one of the first examples of NFTs on the Ethereum network, consisting of a series of 10,000 randomly generated characters with the aesthetics and unique properties of pixel art. While these NFTs were originally given away for free, the only way you can get them now is to buy them. The most popular destination is CryptoPunks’ Larva Labs marketplace, which makes up the bulk of its sales.

However, the amount to be spent is not small. Currently, punk has the lowest price of 94.99 ETH (about $ 285,000) while the most expensive one sold on the market (number 3100) retails for a “huge” $ 7.58 million. That explains Larva Labs’ all-time trading volume of $ 1.3 billion.

First, simply connect your MetaMask wallet, search through the list of available punks (the ones highlighted in red are on offer) and enter your bid.

The hardest part of the process is convincing yourself to be spending such a large sum of money that many would consider silly. After all, the value of art lies in the viewer.

NBA Top Shot Marketplace

One of the first NFT series to gain mass impact was NBA Top Shot – a set of digital trading cards with featured NBA videos. After purchasing a pack, clips are stored in your blockchain-verified, secure crypto wallet, where they can be viewed or resold on the NBA Top Shot Marketplace.

The secret of NBA Top Shot’s success is that the creators of Dapper Labs made it easy for general users to get started. The easiest way to sign up for NBA Top Shot is to link your Google account to Dapper. You will then be asked to enter your phone number for confirmation via SMS.

There are several steps involved in setting up your account, such as: B. Choosing your favorite team. Once you’re done, you can choose from new packages, join the virtual queue, and purchase a package. Next, verify by SMS (again), pay with several options such as with an existing crypto wallet, flow wallet, credit in Dapper or credit card.

Rarible

One of the top NFT marketplaces on Ethereum is Rarible – a collaborative platform that showcases a wide range of digital art and collectibles. It currently has the fifth highest trading volume of all time, with $ 210 million already traded, according to Dappradar.

Similar to OpenSea, you can buy and sell all types of vehicles. Sellers also have the option of creating multiple NFTs for a single image and selling them multiple times.

Rarible’s user interface is quite easy to use for people new to cryptocurrencies. Users who have used OpenSea-like NFT marketplaces will feel familiar.

You can log in with a variety of wallets, such as MetaMask, Coinbase Wallet, MyEtherWallet, or any mobile wallet that uses WalletConnect. Once logged in, you can use the balance in your wallet to buy Fiat or even top up your wallet via bank transfer or debit card.

SuperRare

SuperRare positions itself as a slightly higher quality alternative to Rarible, with Rarible’s user interface popping up with a flood of flashing GIFs and live auctions. SuperRare has a more minimalistic look.

The marketplace is also more selective and advertises as a social platform designed to incentivize the creation and collection of crypto artwork. They work seriously with artists and require work to be submitted and approved before listing, i.e. quality over quantity.

To apply for SuperRare, a supported wallet such as MetaMask or Formatic is required. In addition, a username and password must be generated in connection with your wallet address, but it only takes a few seconds, so it won’t be too long before you can opt for the platform’s exclusive NFT.

Known origin

KnownOrigin has a much smaller trading volume ever – just $ 6.9 million – and, like SuperRare, aims to provide a more curated gallery-like experience for the NFT connoisseur. All of their artwork files are stored on IPFS, which provides some protection for the underlying assets. With a primary focus on digital art, the market shies away from the crazier aspects of the NFT world so you won’t find any quirky avatars or cute monsters here.

It sounds like a very prescriptive platform, but KnownOrigin is actually very easy to use. All you have to do is connect a wallet like MetaMask or Formatic and quickly bid on the desired NFT assets.

Foundation, endowment

The foundation currently has a total trading volume of just over 79 million US dollars and advertises itself as a “creative playground” for artists. The market has several notable sales including the NFT internet icon meme Nyan Cat, Edward Snowden’s first NFT, and an audiovisual digital collection from producer Richard D. James known as the Aphex Twin.

After you have connected MetaMask or another software wallet via WalletConnect, the foundation’s marketplace works very easily and allows bids on timed auctions like on a normal auction site.

MakersPlace

MakersPlace is another premium NFT marketplace that prides itself on hosting a variety of exclusive digital art collections. Despite a smaller overall volume ($ 23.5 million at press time), the platform has multiple pieces that were created once to add exclusivity.

In February 2021, the website suffered a memorable downtime when popular artist Beeple unveiled an NFT collection for $ 1 apiece. The platform also hosts many NFTs from musicians, including T-Pain, Shakira, and Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine, who signed up for the platform.

Signing up as a buyer with MakersPlace is easy, and you can even use your Google or Facebook account details to save time.

During the registration process you have to select 5 artists to follow and you can then buy the works with your ETH credit in your MetaMask wallet or with a credit card (manually). If you are the creator of the work, you will need to submit an invitation to join the platform and fill out an online form for manager approval.

Refined gate

As one of the first waves of the major NFT markets, the Nifty Gateway enjoys strong support from the Gemini exchange. The exchange acquired the platform in 2019 and this decision did not come as a surprise to the market. Amid the NFT boom, Nifty Gateway made headlines with one of the earliest multi-million dollar NFT sales, such as Beeple’s CROSSROAD brokerage sale for $ 6.6 million in February 2021. By May, the platform had one Total merchandise value reached $ 300 million.

CROSSING
from @beeple

The number 1/1 from beeple’s first NG drop has just been resold on the secondary market for $ 6.6 million.

History has just been made.

Congratulations to Beeple and …