OpenSea and Magic Eden are two of the top-ranked decentralized NFT marketplaces on the Solana Network, each experiencing tremendous growth over the last few years; hence, having lots of things to brag about regarding their reach, functionality, and security.

Of course, both platforms are well popular and reputable; however, each has its pros and cons, which we'll explore in this article as we compare them on different factors, including their trading volume, market share, fees, safety measures, ease of use, liquidity, and more. Hence, we can conclude on the best NFT trading platform on Solana.

Background

The world of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) is growing rapidly. With the increase in popularity, the number of platforms allowing for the buying and selling of these digital assets has also increased. Two of the most popular platforms for NFT trading are OpenSea and Magic Eden.

Magic Eden is a new NFT platform made for the Solana Network that facilitates the buying, selling, and minting of NFTs. It is built on the Solana blockchain, making it the leading NFT marketplace on Solana.

OpenSea is an online platform and a decentralized marketplace that promotes and supports selling and buying, including the trading of non-fungible tokens. It is the world's first and by far the largest NFT marketplace, built on the decentralized blockchain Ethereum, but recently expanded to the Solana blockchain, allowing the purchase and trading of non-fungible tokens, NFTs.

OpenSea has been the "bigger boy" over the years, as it gained popularity via Ethereum NFTs; Magic Eden has always been a close runner-up alongside SolSea. However, since late April, when the Okay Bears Solana NFT collection became viral, Magic Eden's trading volume has grown tremendously, finally exceeding OpenSea's trading volume in mid-May, putting OpenSea's supremacy in the Solana NFT trading market to the test.

The OkayBears collection dominated the NFT area, outperforming huge players like Bored Ape Yacht Club, Axie Infinity, and CryptoPunks.

OpenSea vs. Magic Eden

1. Onboarding and Wallet Support

Getting to grips with Magic Eden and OpenSea is simple. First, you must link your wallet to the platforms to see your current NFT portfolio. Then, if you wish to acquire more NFTs, they must be placed in the connected wallet, and if you want to sell part of your present holdings, they must also be put in the associated wallet.

Phantom, Solflare, Sollet, and Exodus are among the thirteen wallet providers supported by Magic Eden. OpenSea, on the other hand, maintains the more traditional options of Metamask, Wallet Connect, Phantom, and Glow.

2. Purchasing NFTs

Magic Eden features an extremely simple purchase mechanism. Users must, however, have sufficient money in their wallets. While OpenSea accepts card payments via Moonpay, Magic Eden is entirely web3 and only accepts crypto that consumers already have in their wallets.

Notably, the transaction cost on Magic Eden is 2%, but it is 2.5% on OpenSea. Because both markets support Solana blockchain transactions, the gas price related to a purchase is relatively minimal at about 0.00001 SOL, or less than a cent.

3. Listing NFTs and Transaction Fees

There are no additional fees for listing or delisting your NFTs from the market with Magic Eden. But, of course, the 2% transaction charge remains, which is the only thing you give Magic Eden when listing and selling NFTs on the marketplace. Importantly, creator costs, also known as royalty fees, will be removed from the sale price of your NFTs whenever they change hands.

OpenSea works similarly. While OpenSea requires validations and increased gas fees for Ethereum NFT purchases, its Solana beta version minimizes these expenses. Every sale you make incurs a 2.5% platform transaction charge. Furthermore, creator royalty payments are subtracted from the final sale price.

4. Unique Users and Trading Volume

As of July 2022, Magic Eden boasts of 275,000 daily transactions, including purchases, bids, and listings, whereas OpenSea has 50,000. However, the number of unique individuals trading NFTs on each platform continues to favor OpenSea. For example, in the middle of this year, Magic Eden welcomed 24,000 merchants in 24 hours, while OpenSea hosted 41,000.

While Magic Eden users transact at a higher pace than OpenSea users, the lack of blue-chip NFT projects on the Solana system has resulted in lower total sales, despite higher transaction volume.

Magic Eden still has total dominance in the Solana NFT trading field. Earlier this year, Magic Eden had 97.2 percent of the market transaction share, while OpenSea had only 2.5 percent.

5. Security

Both OpenSea and Magic Eden provide a secure and sturdy platform with additional safety features to safeguard their users. However, NFT traders are still vulnerable to phishing assaults, in which hackers trick customers into handing over their wallet credentials.

In February 2022, OpenSea users were subjected to a large-scale phishing assault in which hackers stole $1.7 million in NFTs. Earlier last month, the Solana blockchain had a huge attack in which many Phantom wallets were hacked. This hack, however, is believed to have had no effect on OpenSea or Magic Eden.

Conclusion

NFT markets aren't just a place for artists and NFT projects to sell their NFTs; they're also a place to meet a community of dedicated collectors and consumers. A good marketplace may make or break the success of an NFT project.

OpenSea and Magic Eden both excel in terms of community access, and any project listed on these marketplaces can easily attain success. However, based on the trading volume and market share above, it is safe to say that Magic Eden is the place to go if you seek cheaper projects that could easily gain clout. However, due to OpenSea's long-time repute, many high-value and premium NFTs still see OpenSea as the go-to option.

Magic Eden also connects well with the Solana Blockchain as it is Solana Specific, unlike OpenSea which is based on Ethereum and only branched to Solana. This s exhibited in the wallet support options, seeing as Magic Eden is supported by major Solana-exclusive wallets like Phantom, Solflare, and Sollet, unlike OpenSea that mainly works with generalistic options like Metamask.

Hence, if you're looking for the ultimate Solana wallet, Magic Eden trumps OpenSea in terms of accessibility, while OpenSea maintains a repute of high value and an interoperable marketplace with several blockchain networks.

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