Blur vs OpenSea: Which Is the Better NFT Marketplace?

Over the past few years since the start of the NFT craze in the crypto world, the crypto Twitter space has already been talking about both OpenSea and Blur. In fact, these two major NFT marketplaces have been trading punches with each other for quite some time now. While OpenSea has always been known as the NFT marketplace champion, it is being challenged for the first time ever by Blur.io. Let’s dive into the differences between Blur.io and OpenSea to see which is the better NFT marketplace.

Also read: Will Crypto Recover? Here’s What You Should Know

What Is OpenSea? 

OpenSea has long held the title of the biggest NFT marketplace that allows creators to showcase their NFTs and buyers to discover and purchase them. Founded in 2017 by Devin Finzer and Alex Atallah, it has become one of the largest NFT marketplaces in existence. 

OpenSea provides a host of powerful features, such as setting prices for digital assets, bidding, and auctioning. It is backed by a strong community of users, which consists of investors, collectors, and artists. By offering a user-friendly interface, creators can freely upload and list their creations for sale. Buyers can also explore and choose their favourite NFTs using cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum and Bitcoin. 

What Is Blur.io? 

Blur.io, the new NFT marketplace, has challenged the dominance of OpenSea. Besides allowing users to purchase and sell NFTs, Blur.io also provides a host of other unique features, such as analytics, pricing comparisons of NFTs, and portfolio management. 

Founded in 2021 by the creators of the popular messaging app Kik, the platform provides a simple and easy-to-use platform for buyers and creators. Blur uses the Flow blockchain, which takes advantage of the low-cost and quick transactions it offers. 

Differences Between Blur and OpenSea

At first glance, both of them are NFT marketplaces with huge communities behind them. While OpenSea has been challenged by several NFT marketplaces in the past, none have been successful in overthrowing it. However, Blur has challenged it by following a different strategy. Let’s compare the different aspects of the two marketplaces below. 

Target Audience

The target audiences of OpenSea and Blur are different. It’s clear that OpenSea targets almost everyone in the crypto space. However, Blur has focused only on whale traders as its target audience. This is evidence of Blur’s different approach, which encourages platform loyalty. 

Blur.io also incentivises traders to start their NFT bid close to floor prices, which in turn provides them with loyalty points. Blur also encourages user loyalty for listings. The platform provides 100% of the trader’s allocated loyalty points if they list NFTs only on its platform. 

First-Mover Advantage

OpenSea hasn’t released any tokens of its own and has relied on its first-mover advantage and market dominance. However, analysts and traders have criticised its centralised decision-making, which is the opposite of what Blur has done. 

After its launch in October, Blur attacked OpenSea’s price by reducing its trading fees to zero and cutting royalty fees. As a response, OpenSea blocked all collections that are listed on any non-royalty fee-paying platforms. This has led to many users moving from OpenSea to Blur. 

Trading Conditions

OpenSea is the larger and more established NFT marketplace of the two. It provides a wider range of assets and has a more established user base. On the other hand, Blur only maintains a curated selection of NFTs and has designed its platform to be more user-friendly for new NFT collectors. 

When it comes to fees, OpenSea charges a 2.5% fee for sellers. It also provides a royalty enforcement tool that allows users to block optional royalty marketplaces. Blur only enforces a 0.5% creator royalty and does not charge a trading fee. 

Unique Features and Support

Blur provides us with some unique features that are not present in OpenSea. This includes powerful features such as care packages, snipes, and sweeps. With sweeps, users can buy multiple NFTs at their floor prices together in one transaction. The snipe feature allows users to explore hidden NFTs before they enter the market. 

On the other hand, OpenSea supports more blockchains than Blur, such as Tezos, Flow, Klaytn, Polygon and Ethereum, rather than just Polygon and Ethereum. OpenSea also allows NFT minting and gifting. 

How to Choose Between OpenSea and Blur?

The choice of either Blur or OpenSea depends on the individual needs and preferences of the user in question. Those looking for a wider selection of NFTs within the comfort of an established marketplace can choose OpenSea. 

However, newcomers to the NFT realm can go for the more curated selection of NFTs that Blur offers. They will also find its user-friendly platform easier to adapt to. 

Final Verdict

Both NFT marketplaces offer unique features and benefits to their respective user bases. OpenSea has a larger NFT collection compared to Blur’s smaller, curated collection. However, the myriad of unique features that Blur provides may be its key selling point. While OpenSea is a larger and more established name in this field, Blur’s recent developments have allowed it to challenge the former for the title of the best NFT marketplace of 2023.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Is Blur Beating OpenSea in the Market?

While OpenSea has dominated the market for most of its existence thanks to leading the industry in royalties, things have changed. OpenSea’s volume is being syphoned off to other platforms. Blur has done better in this aspect, as it has created a good incentive model to pay full royalties on their NFT purchases. 

What Is the Maximum Number of Items in an OpenSea Collection?

OpenSea has recently increased the limits of its collection storefront contract. As a result, it now allows only 5 collections per NFT wallet or user. The maximum number of NFT collectibles in each collection is 50.

Which of the Two NFT Marketplaces (OpenSea or Blur) Supports the Most Blockchain Networks?

OpenSea supports more blockchains than Blur, as the former supports Polygon, Klaytn, Flow, Ethereum, and Tezos. Many see this as an advantage of OpenSea. Blur only supports Polygon and Ethereum.