OpenSea, the largest non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace, will now support Avalanche-based NFTs. The platform will allow creators to mint, list, and trade NFTs on the network.
The Avalance team announced the integration of the popular NFT marketplace, OpenSea, on 11 October through a blog post. With this, OpenSea will operate on the blockchain alongside existing platforms like NFTrade and other Avalanche-focused NFT marketplaces, including Joepegs and Kalao. The development has to be seen in the context of slowing activity in the NFT space.
OpenSea is the world’s first and largest NFT marketplace. It aims to help creators, collectors, and collaborators engage with NFTs across multiple chains. On the other hand, Avalanche is the fastest smart contracts platform in the blockchain industry, popular for its fast, low-cost, and green features.
A win-win deal
The collaboration between OpenSea and Avalanche is not just a win for the NFT marketplace and its users alone. Both companies are benefiting from this move. OpenSea users will be able to settle NFT transactions in under a second with low transaction fees, thanks to Avalanche’s success in horizontally scaling with Subnets. Avalanche will gain the much-needed exposure in the NFT space since it does not have a strong presence there despite launching in September 2020.
For context, Avalanche saw just $2.4 million in total NFT volume traded in September. Conversely, Solana, which launched around the same time, recorded nearly $130 million in total NFT volume traded last month, according to data from CryptoSlam. Avalanche is the seventh-largest blockchain by NFT sales volume, with about $404.6 million in sales.
The new tie-up might give Avalanche a toehold in the NFT space and help it consolidate its position in the market.
A combined decision
The Avalanche team told TechCrunch that the integration of OpenSea was a combined decision by the core team and the Avalanche community. Besides, Avalanche is working with a handful of Web 2.0 enterprises, such as business and consumer brands as well as sports teams that wanted OpenSea as a choice on Avalanche, John Wu, president of Ava Labs, said.
