OpenSea’s Seaport Protocol Is Future of NFT Marketplaces

The design of Opensea’s Seaport protocol is to make trading NFTs easier and more accurate. Users will be able to trade ERC20, ERC721, and ETH-based NFTs on OpenSea, rather than just ERC721-based NFTs. With this protocol, users will be able to list offers to trade specific NFTs for a certain amount of ETH instead of NFTs for a certain amount of ETH. Someone could, for example, use Seaport to propose exchanging a Bored Ape for a package containing a CryptoPunk or Cryptoadz token and a small amount of Uniswap's UNI token.

Here's Why?

The Seaport protocol is the future of the NFT marketplace because of the following reasons:

Bartering

According to OpenSea's blog post about Seaport, specific trades can be made by assigning each NFT its properties. Then, a user could offer to trade the Bored Ape for a specific CryptoPunk by providing the CryptoPunk's ID. You could also propose exchanging a CryptoPunk Ape for a CryptoPunk Alien. 

Basically, there is a link between all standing offers and swaps, making the market's liquidity much stronger. So in terms of how well the market works and how easy it is for people to get better tools, this is the Uniswap v3 moment for NFTs.

The release of Uniswap version 3 was in May of last year, and it was a significant step forward for DeFi in improving Automated Market Maker liquidity (AMM). In its first blog post, OpenSea emphasized that no one else controls the protocol in true crypto-style. It is open source and has no contract owner, making it a public product rather than a private product.

Cheaper Transactions

Developers have been impressed by how this contract optimizes gas use. However, it implies developers need to add a "significant" assembly code to the OpenSea source code. Assembly code is much more precise than high-level programming languages making it more difficult to write but providing you with more control.

I believe the OpenSea contract is one of Ethereum's biggest gas contracts. The optimizations made possible by the use of assembly code will assist Seaport users in lowering transaction fees. Furthermore, if the number of NFTs on the market continues to fall, Seaport could assist developers in launching a second boom in the emerging industry.

Future Of NFT Marketplaces

Currently, we are living in the "eBay era," characterized by the largest NFT marketplaces that aggregate all types of items into grids while focusing on transactions. In the future, the leading NFT marketplaces may not exist at all.

Consider the development of online marketplaces. Historically, the first generation of marketplaces generated massive value by aggregating all demand and supply. 

For NFTs, we are in the 1.0 marketplace, in which users must decide what they wish to buy, visit an online marketplace, type the item's name into a search bar, and then buy the item.

Historically, marketplaces have evolved to provide more seamless experiences. This will also be the case for NFTs. Customers can find the best product for them by using specific features and signals. With this, the marketplaces will be able to analyze user behaviour to determine what to display.

As the number of products increases and NFTs take over the digital media — from digital fashion to metaverse land and game assets — consumers will require verticalized experiences, enhanced search, and consumer-friendly marketplaces.

Instead of users searching through all available options, future NFT marketplaces will assist users in purchasing and learning from their off-chain and on-chain activities to determine what will be available.

How to buy an NFT on OpenSea

To buy NFT tokens on OpenSea, follow the steps below.

Step 1: Create a mobile wallet and fund it

To buy NFTs, you will need a wallet that can store funds online. You will also need Ether, the cryptocurrency used to buy NFTs on OpenSea (ETH). If you do not have an online wallet, visit metamask.io and install the browser extension. After doing this, you'll have to connect it to OpenSea. 

To connect it, navigate to OpenSea, then to the upper right corner, and click on the profile. You will get a redirect to a new page that will prompt you to sign up for an account. Choose between MetaMask, Coinbase Wallet, and other options.

Grant OpenSea all permissions required to use your wallet and accept the signature request. You can now explore the NFT collections through the OpenSea marketplace after installation. If you do not have ETH or Ether, visit your MetaMask account and click "Buy" — you can also use a debit or credit card to deposit crypto into your wallet.

Step 2: Search the OpenSea NFT collections

The next step is to browse the fat collection to identify the NFT you wish to acquire. To do this, sign in to your OpenSea Account and then click "Explore." There, you will find all of the available NFT collections.

You can refine your search on the upper bar by selecting Trending, Art, Collectibles, Domain Names, Photography, Music, Sports, Trading Cards, and Utilities.

Step 3: Buy Or Make An Offer

If you find something you like, buy it immediately or offer to buy it. You should know that certain NFTs include the "Place Bid" option, which allows you to submit an offer to the product's seller. If you find an NFT with this option, you should check the number of previous offers to determine how much you can offer. For example, on OpenSea, bids must be at least 5 percent higher than the previous bid. 

Step 4: The Actual Buy

Click "Buy now" to begin the checkout process. You will see the display of the NFT details, including the name, collection, subtotal, and total. Then you can click "Confirm Payment."

You can view all the information regarding your buys, including the estimated gas fee and the time required to complete the transaction, in the section that follows.

Also, you can change the gas fee by clicking Edit; however, keep in mind that reducing gas fees will significantly slow down transactions. The best time to buy with MetaMask is when the Ethereum network is less active.

Visit the Ethereum gas tracker on Etherscan to view the current gas fee. When you are ready, click the confirm button and wait for the transaction to be finalized. Once the transaction is confirmed, simply navigate to your account and wait for your brand-new NFT to appear.

Conclusion

Over the next few years and months, the NFT marketplace will change significantly. Many project teams will use the Seaport protocol to make an NFT market, and it may become the standard for use in an NFT market. Since it is open-source, everyone in the market will be competing for users.