Getting started with NFTs is hard. You may be asking, where do i buy them? Which platforms are safe? I understand. But hopefully, this guide will ease your mind. This is based on countless hours of scrolling through marketplaces and hundreds of trades.
In this article, we will be looking at the top 5 NFT marketplaces for beginners. Now without further ado, let’s dive right in.
Top 5 marketplaces:
What are NFTs?
Put simply NFTs are proof of ownership. It is a record on the blockchain which cannot be falsified or duplicated. The most common form is art. Each image is assigned a unique identifier which is recorded on the blockchain.
These can then be traded peer-to-peer using a marketplace. What is a marketplace? NFT marketplaces are applications where NFTs can be stored, traded, and minted (created).
So where do you start? You will need to set up a wallet. This will be used to interact with the marketplace. Cryptocurrencies are sent to this wallet which you then use to authorize transactions. Popular wallets include Metamask or Phantom.
You can also use a hardware wallet for additional security. The one that I recommend is the ledger nano X. You can check my review here. It’s easy to use and supports dozens of cryptocurrencies. Know that you know the basics we can look at the top 5 marketplaces.
This is the most popular NFT marketplace and for good reason. Founded in 2017 by Devin Finzer and Alex Atallah, Open Sea has a proven track record. The design is intuitive and supports more than 150 different payments.
Users can trade avatars, art, videos, and even domain names. Setting up an account is free and it supports several wallets including Metamask and Coinbase.
Magic Eden is the second largest NFT platform. This is the number one place to trade Solana NFTs. One of the main benefits of Magic Eden is the transaction fees. It is only 2% compared to Open Sea’s 2.5%. Users can also trade with Ethereum.
Binance is one of the top cryptocurrency exchanges in the space and now it has opened an NFT marketplace. So why choose Binance? low fee trading. At only 1% it is the cheapest on this list. Not only that but it’s centralized. You don’t have to deal with seed phrases and wallets, you can simply set up a Binance account and trade.
Like Magic Eden and Open Sea, Rarible allows users to trade art, video game assets, etc. on a peer-to-peer marketplace. One excellent feature is that you can use a credit card. The transaction fee is a flat rate of 2.5%.
The interesting part about Rarible is the Rari token, this token is used to govern the platform and shape the development. Overall, the user interface of Rarible is extremely user-friendly. I find trading easy and this has made me come back many times.
Want to earn while trading NFTs? look no further. LooksRare rewards users for every trade on the platform with LOOKS. This is the native token that fuels the platform. You can also stake the LOOKS token to earn interest. The site contains all the popular collections from Bored Ape Yacht Club to Azukis. If you are thinking of a particular NFT to buy it is probably listed here.
Conclusion
All 5 of these marketplaces are worth keeping an eye on. From Opensea with its high volume trading to Binance with its more centralized experience. The 5 listed here are all reputable with stellar UI making them perfect for beginners. If you want to learn about the Top 5 NFT wallets read this article – Top 5 NFT Wallets for Beginners.
