Best NFT Marketplaces in October 2022 – Forbes Advisor

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) give you ownership of artwork, music, videos and other collectibles online. They exist on blockchains, the innovative technology that underpins cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.

As the popularity of NFTs has grown, the NFT market has climbed to more than $40 billion in value, according to The 2021 NFT Market Report released by blockchain data company Chainalysis.

Here are some of the most popular and well-rated NFT marketplaces where you can buy and sell these digital assets.

Top NFT Marketplaces in October 2022

Open sea

OpenSea is ancient by NFT standards, having launched in 2017, and it is also among the largest NFT marketplaces active today. It hosts many popular NFTs, including art, music, photography, trading cards, and virtual worlds.

The core cryptocurrencies used on OpenSea are Ethereum, Solana and USDC, and payment options have other cryptos. Just be aware that you cannot use fiat currencies such as US dollars or Euros.

On the bright side, OpenSea is very user-friendly for beginners. You can create an account for free within minutes and start browsing NFTs immediately, and you can even create NFTs on their platform.

For costs, OpenSea charges a fee equivalent to 2.5% of each transaction. You also have to pay the gas fee to complete NFT transactions with Ethereum. Gas fees are the transaction fees paid to miners.

If you want to avoid the gas tax, you can buy and sell NFTs with Polygon. But you must ensure that the NFT item of interest displays the Polygon logo.

In short, OpenSea is a solid choice for beginners who want to get started with a simple marketplace and want as many options as possible for NFTs.

Rare

Rarible allows users to buy and sell art, collectibles, video game assets and NFTs. You can buy and trade on Rarible with Ethereum, Flow and Tezos.

Rarible charges a flat fee of 2.5% for each transaction, plus any gas fees. A nice feature is that you can buy NFTs using a credit card, which allows transactions in fiat currencies.

An interesting aspect of Rarible: Instead of internal management deciding everything, Rarible created its own native token called RARI. The holders of RARI get to vote on company decisions such as changes to the company’s policy.

In 2021, Rarible announced a partnership with Adobe to make it easier to verify and protect metadata for digital content, including NFTs.

For those who want access to a large network with solid connections, Rarible may be the best NFT marketplace. At the same time, it also still follows a decentralized way of thinking.

NBA top shot

If you’re a big basketball fan, the NBA Top Shot marketplace lets you buy NFTs of big moments in basketball history.

You can purchase video clips, play highlights and art for both the NBA and WNBA. But some of these moments don’t come cheap. A LeBron James slam dunk video fetched $208,000 in February 2021.

The NBA built and manages this NFT marketplace and they have exclusive rights to these video clips. In addition, you know that you are dealing with a large, recognized organization.

The NBA Top Shot marketplace is an example of big companies embracing this trend. Others include DraftKing’s Marketplace and the Associated Press’ NFT Marketplace. Even GameStop plans to launch an NFT marketplace this year.

Users can buy Moment NFTs with credit/debit cards or selected cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, DAI or USDC. And, of course, fees are added to the purchase price, whether you buy the iconic moment by credit card or cryptocurrency.

Binance

Binance, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, added an NFT marketplace in 2021. The international crypto exchange is one of many other industry players entering the NFT sector, such as Crypto.com NFT, which describes itself as a highly curated NFP- marketplace.

Binance NFT offers the typical digital assets found on other major platforms: artwork, game items, and collectibles.

A big advantage of Binance NFT is that it charges very low fees. The platform only charges a 1% trading fee. It is also a user-friendly platform built using similar technology and setup as their exchange.

As such a major player in the crypto space, Binance also runs on its own blockchain, giving it an added advantage.

Nice gateway

Nifty Gateway is known for hosting expensive and exclusive NFT sales, including digital artist Pak’s “The Merge”, which sold for $91.8 million. It made headlines when the platform was acquired in late 2019 by Gemini, which is run by the Winklevoss twins, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.

This marketplace focuses on artwork, especially artwork from celebrities and top artists. To increase demand, Nifty Gateway uses an “open issues” system. When a new type of NFT comes out, you can only buy editions for a limited time.

This marketplace allows you to make purchases with your credit card. Nifty Gateway can be the way to go if you want to make a big investment in NFTs and want access to advanced options.

SuperRare

SuperRare is an advanced NFT art marketplace that positions itself in the NFT ecosystem as an art gallery. This marketplace does not accept “meme style” NFTs and is very selective with NFT submissions.

Given that SuperRare spends so much time evaluating the work before it is available for sale, investors can feel more confident in its quality. For their services, SuperRate takes 15% the first time an NFT is sold on the primary market. There is also a flat 3% of each transaction, which the buyer pays.

SuperRare may be a good choice for someone looking for high-end NFT artwork, especially pieces with a more classic style.

What is an NFT Marketplace?

An NFT marketplace is a digital platform for buying and selling NFTs. These platforms allow people to store and display their NFTs plus sell them to others for cryptocurrency or money. Some NFT marketplaces also allow users to create their NFTs on the platform itself.

In exchange for a fee, the NFT marketplace will typically handle the transfer of an NFT from one party to another.

Each NFT marketplace has its own system for how it works. The types of NFTs available, fees, payment options, allowed blockchains and other rules will depend on which one you use.

How do NFT marketplaces work?

When you create an account with an NFT marketplace, you can browse all available options for selling. You can also add a payment method, and some require you to connect a crypto wallet to pay with crypto, while others allow you to use a credit card.

Some sites allow you to buy NFTs directly at a fixed price, while others will use an auction.
If you complete the transaction, the NFT marketplace will record it on its blockchain showing the change of ownership.

What is minting?

In the NFT world, minting refers to the process of creating new NFTs on a blockchain, most commonly Ethereum. When you create an NFT, you record data comprising a new NFT in a new block which is then added to a blockchain.

Minting an NFT usually comes with fees. For NFT systems using the Ethereum blockchain, this cost is paid in gas, a crypto token used to perform functions on the Ethereum blockchain.

More and more, NFT marketplaces are getting creative about how, when and to whom coining fees are charged.