What is Crypto Marketplace

A crypto marketplace is any platform enabling the purchase, sale, or exchange of cryptocurrency assets ranging from centralised exchanges for token trading to decentralised NFT marketplaces for digital art and collectibles. The term most commonly refers to NFT marketplaces specifically, distinguishing them from general crypto exchanges.

NFT MARKETPLACES: THE PRIMARY USE CASE

NFT marketplaces are platforms where non-fungible tokens digital art, collectibles, gaming items, virtual real estate, music, and more are listed for sale, auctioned, and traded between collectors. Each listing represents a specific unique token, unlike cryptocurrency exchanges where identical fungible tokens are traded.

TOP NFT MARKETPLACES BY CATEGORY

General NFT Marketplaces: OpenSea: The longest-running and largest general NFT marketplace. Supports Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, and other chains. Offers fixed-price listings and timed auctions.

Blur: The professional-focused Ethereum NFT marketplace that surpassed OpenSea in trading volume in 2023 through sophisticated trading tools and BLUR token rewards for active traders.
Magic Eden: Leading Solana NFT marketplace that has expanded to Bitcoin Ordinals, Ethereum, and Polygon. Rarible: Multi-chain NFT marketplace with its own RARI governance token.

Specialised Marketplaces:

Foundation: Invitation-only fine art NFT marketplace focusing on high-quality digital art. SuperRare: Curated single-edition digital art marketplace.
NBA Top Shot (Dapper Labs): Officially licensed NBA highlight collectibles on the Flow blockchain.
Axie Marketplace: In-game NFT trading for Axie Infinity's Axies, land, and items.

MARKETPLACE FEES

NFT marketplaces typically charge: Seller fees (platform commission): 2%-5% of sale price. Creator royalties: Programmed into NFT contracts, 5%-10% goes to the original creator on secondary sales. Gas fees: Paid by buyers or sellers depending on marketplace structure (Blur uses a "gas-lite" model).

Terms in addition to the Crypto Marketplace

Blockchain

A blockchain is a subset of a distributed database. The Bitcoin inventors originally prototyped the system in 2008. This modern database is made up of separate blocks that are connected together in a chronological chain. Blockchains may be used to store a wide range of data types. It has mostly been utilized as a public ledger for bitcoin transactions to date. A peer-to-peer network comprised of independent nodes uses a consensus process to ensure the blockchain's security and legitimacy. Each node in the network keeps a public and immutable copy of the data.

2 Factor Authentication (2FA)

2 Factor Authentication is a security measure with two layers. It is used by the majority of cryptocurrency exchanges. To log in, you must provide not only a password, but also a code obtained, for example, from the Google authenticator.

Airdrop

An airdrop is a method of distributing coins. End users can typically obtain coins for free or in exchange for doing a small task, such as subscribing to a newsletter, sending a tweet, or inviting others via a personal affiliate link. Cryptocurrency airdrops — the act of depositing cryptocurrency into public crypto wallets — are utilized as a marketing, liquidity creation, and network bootstrapping technique for many different types of blockchain initiatives.

Altcoin

Altcoin - "alternative coin" - is any kind of digital currency other than Bitcoin. Since the launch of Bitcoin, the world's first digital currency, many altcoins (as well as supporting blockchains) have been created. Altcoin digital currencies share many similarities to Bitcoin, but consistently and have significant differences. There are about 20,000 altcoins, and this number is expected to grow significantly in the coming years. Altcoins often develop Bitcoin features. Ethereum, currently the most widely used blockchain, supports digital contracts and separate applications where Bitcoin does not. Altcoins are also often created to cater to the needs of different users. The Litecoin blockchain, for example, can process payments quarterly for the duration of Bitcoin.

Cold Storage

Cold storage is the way to store cryptocurrency offline. The word refers to the use of offline wallets that are not connected to the internet. Cold storage is the most secure way to keep cryptocurrencies since an offline currency becomes less likely to be hacked and stolen. Paper wallets, printed renditions of private keys, and offline hardware and software wallets are all examples of cold storage.