Best NFT Marketplaces for Collectors and Investors

Best NFT Marketplaces

NFTs have carved out a fresh sector of blockchain utility in recent years and continue to grow at an exponential pace. We’ve witnessed non-fungible tokens change hands for over $10m, and top projects have seen massive, billion-dollar valuations.

At the heart of NFTs, as with the rest of crypto, is the infrastructure facilitating their exchange. While non-fungible tokens have existed on Ethereum since 2018, they only reached the mainstream after NFT marketplaces were able to facilitate NFT trading. We’ve seen an array of generic NFT marketplaces emerge to dethrone Opensea’s current dominance. These new white label marketplaces offer novel mechanics and unique value propositions as discussed below.

What Is an NFT Marketplace?

NFT marketplaces are exchanges built expressly to provide platforms for NFTs to be viewed, listed, and traded. 

Opensea currently remains the most dominant in the space, enjoying the spoils of first-mover advantage. However, other marketplaces like Looksrare, x2y2, and Blur are offering staking and revenue share, which may be more appealing to users than platforms with less incentives.

In the case of Origin Protocol, OGN holders can stake their tokens for 100% of the revenue earned by Origin Story marketplaces. These white label marketplaces offer increased functionality over their generic counterparts, such as token-gated access, community dashboards, and custom aesthetics. 

What Is Minting an NFT?

Minting denotes the creation of an NFT on-chain in order to digitally represent an asset. NFTs can represent anything from artwork and media to physical property. NFTs can be minted on a number of blockchains. However, Ethereum is the primary chain for NFT deployment and is the most used blockchain among enthusiasts.

NFTs take the form of ERC-721 tokens on Ethereum – a class of unique, non-reproducible tokens that point to individual assets. 

Individual creators may mint one-off artworks for sale or auction on a marketplace. While collections are generally minted as collectors interact with a custom smart contract and generate their assets during an initial, primary sale. 

Can You Mint NFTs on NFT Marketplaces?

Generic marketplaces like Opensea allow creators to easily mint NFTs by providing a simple interface. The interface requires no code to generate an NFT, making it incredibly easy for anyone to deploy a collection. However, creators should be aware of fees baked into such minting mechanisms paid in exchange for the convenience provided. 

Types of NFT Marketplaces

On a high level, NFT marketplaces fall into two categories – generic and white label. Generic marketplaces, like those mentioned above, allow anyone to create and list their own NFT collections. Conversely, white label marketplaces, like those developed by Origin Protocol for an array of partners, cater exclusively to specific collections.

Generic NFT Marketplaces

Generic NFT marketplaces have become popular for their open access and provision of tools to allow anyone to publish their own NFT collections. 

This provides opportunities for creators to mint collections without needing a multi-skilled team. However, it also opens the doors for creators to sell fraudulent collections. When searching for a popular item on a generic marketplace, you may come across multiple fake versions of the item. These counterfeits may look official to the untrained eye. 

White Label NFT Marketplaces 

In contrast to their generic counterparts, white label marketplaces are supported by NFT collections’ core teams. Origin Protocol’s white label NFT Marketplaces are built exclusively for collections, ensuring the community’s best interests are in mind. Moreover, the marketplaces are integrated directly into collections’ native ecosystems. 

White label marketplaces aggregate official collection listings from major generic marketplaces. In doing so, this provides users with a comprehensive overview of the best deals within a given collection. 

Marketplaces, however, are far from the only infrastructure that has developed alongside the non-fungible explosion. A crowd of third party tools have emerged. These provide collectors with in-depth analytics and rarity ranking mechanisms to inform buyers’ decisions.

Origin's white label marketplaces provide insights into holder analytics and official rarity rankings devised by project teams.

Pudgy Penguins Marketplace

Origin's white label marketplaces launched with a partnership with Pudgy Penguins, a well-known and respected collection in the industry. 

The bespoke marketplace has been built in close collaboration with the Pudgy team. The platform is directly integrated into the project’s native ecosystem, designed with the collection’s aesthetics in mind.

The official Pudgy Penguins Marketplace powered by Origin Story 

Karafuru Marketplace

Launched in February 2022, Karafuru exploded onto the scene with a diverse collection of 5,555 anime-inspired Furus. The project has cemented itself as a robust lifestyle brand. Since launching, they’ve hosted events like Karafuru Carnival and partnered with HypeBeast to launch a collection of 3D Furu’s. 

Karafuru’s white label marketplace speaks directly to the vibrant, disruptive collection, which comprises an incredible 1 million color palette.

The official Karafuru Marketplace powered by Origin Story

The native marketplace’s complementary analytics dashboard
 

Sappy Seals Marketplace

Launched in September 2021, Sappy Seals has garnered a reputation as one of the strongest communities in the space. The collection has experienced exponential social growth, a wildly disruptive marketing strategy, and one of the strongest communities around. 

The Sappy Seals Official Marketplace was developed with custom artwork designed by the Sappy team. The 8-bit aesthetic that speaks to the project’s upcoming Pixlverse metaverse.

The official Sappy Seals Marketplace powered by Origin Story

The native marketplace’s complementary analytics dashboard

Which NFT Marketplace Is Best for Collectors?

While generic marketplaces offer incredible opportunities for creators, the trading experience for collectors remains arduous. Collectors who buy items on generic marketplaces often have to worry about getting counterfeit items. There is also a lack of tools that can help collectors accurately assess the rarity and value of items. 

However, generic marketplaces are still a good place to look for newly released collections. Additionally, they offer opportunities like staking and fractionalization.

Conversely, white label NFT marketplaces provide a safe and seamless user experience for holders of the collections they serve. They give a bird’s eye view of official listings on offer, integrated analytics, and official rarity rankings. 

With partnerships growing at a rapid pace, this approach could signal a move towards more native marketplaces. 

FAQs

What’s the difference between a fungible token and a non-fungible token?

Fungible tokens are digital assets that are interchangeable with one another, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and any ERC20 token. Non-fungible tokens hold distinct values, such as Bored Apes and CryptoPunks.

Is White label NFT Marketplace Development difficult?

Creating a custom NFT marketplace can be difficult for collections without the developer resources. However, platforms like Origin Story allow collections to create NFT marketplaces without needing engineering resources from the team.