Interested in NFTs? Know the top five NFT marketplaces by market share

Non-fungible tokens or NFTs are the latest newsmakers in the cryptocurrency universe. They have taken the art world by storm as more and more people are drawn towards the purchase and sale of these digital collectibles.

As per reports, the revenue in the NFT market is projected to show an annual growth rate (CAGR 2023-2027) of 18.55% resulting in a projected total amount of US$3,162.00 million by 2027. Further, the number of users in the NFT market is likely to touch 19.31 million by 2027.

But the question arises that which are the top marketplaces to list and sell NFTs. Should original creators and buyers rely solely on auctions by Christie’s and Sotheby’s? Today, there are numerous platforms that work exclusively in the field of NFT trade.

What is an NFT marketplace?

NFT marketplace is a platform or a marketplace that functions as a public Blockchain platform. These are dedicated marketplaces that store and sell NFTs. In fact, here NFTs can be displayed, traded, and even created.

Hence, this article covers the top five NFT marketplaces for NFT lovers who are interested in creating, buying, and selling digital art pieces or are just curious about NFTs.

According to data from Coingecko, as of February 2023, Blur, a leading NFT marketplace, holds 56.80 percent of the market share, followed by OpenSea with 36.50 percent. Other top NFT marketplaces include X2Y2, Magic Eden, and LooksRare with 2.60 percent, 2.10 percent, and 1.00 percent of the market share, respectively.

Blur

Launched in 2022, Blur is an Ethereum-based NFT marketplace designed to cater to the needs of advanced NFT traders. It currently has 146823 users and offers features like swifter NFT sweep, real-time price feeds and price-based sorting, portfolio management, etc. Moreover, the platform charges zero trading fees on NFT sales.

Here, it must be noted that, unlike other marketplaces that target retail users, Blur is designed to cater more to professional NFT traders.

OpenSea

Founded in 2017, OpenSea boasts over 80 Million NFTs and has a trading volume of more than $20 billion. It hosts many popular NFTs, including art, music, photography, trading cards, and virtual worlds.

Interestingly, OpenSea does not store NFTs on behalf of its users. One needs to connect his personal wallet to the website and execute all trades directly from it. Further, OpenSea deducts a 2.5 percent commission on each sale completed on its platform. Moreover, the platform is quite user-friendly for beginners.

X2Y2

Making a debut on January 2022, X2Y2 is a decentralised NFT marketplace. In a short span, it has become one of the major players in the NFT sector and is luring clients from already established players. Owing to its low fee structure and transparency, this platform has become quite popular among users. Also, it was one of the first marketplaces to eliminate compulsory royalty fees, a controversial practice that makes NFT purchases cheaper for consumers.

In fact, this platform has been dubbed 'the marketplace by the people, for the people.' Other notable features of this platform include zero-interest NFT loans, real-time trade notifications, bulk buying, and as well as increased transparency.

Magic Eden

Formed in September 2021, Magic Eden is on the Solana blockchain. It boasts of being one of the most user-friendly platforms on the market.

The platform is known for its simple user interface, the diversity of tokens that can be created and collected on the platform, and its focus on community. Moreover, it is equipped with a host of compelling features that make buying and selling easy.

LooksRare

Another leading NFT marketplace is LooksRare, which was launched in January last year, is a decentralised NFT marketplace that runs on Ethereum.

It actively rewards traders, collectors, and creators for participating. In fact, 100 percent of the fees generated by the protocol are used as rewards to encourage active participation.