The NFT market has boomed for the past couple of years, with new platforms and projects appearing regularly. Two leading NFT marketplaces, though, have fiercely competed as of late: OpenSea and Blur. OpenSea had been the leading NFT marketplace ever since its inception, but in February, Blur overtook OpenSea in terms of daily trading volume and other metrics—due in large part to its high-profile airdrops and token reward program. Fast-forward to April, and OpenSea has now launched OpenSea Pro, a platform that aims to challenge Blur's recently dominant position in the market. Here we explore what OpenSea Pro is, how it differs from OpenSea, and how it compares to Blur—in addition to what this larger development might mean for the NFT space moving forward.

What is OpenSea Pro?

OpenSea Pro bases its foundation on Gem, an NFT trading tool that allows traders to manage their collections, automate their strategies, and monitor their portfolios. When OpenSea acquired Gem in April 2022, it marked the beginning of OpenSea's move toward creating a more sophisticated trading platform. The acquisition allowed OpenSea to integrate Gem's tools and features into its own platform, which eventually turned into OpenSea Pro.

With OpenSea Pro, NFT traders can enjoy a more professional and refined trading experience. The platform offers a comprehensive suite of trading tools, including real-time analytics, advanced order types, and automated trading. These features enable traders to analyze the market and identify trends, as well as optimize their trading strategies. OpenSea Pro also offers an intuitive and customizable interface that allows users to personalize the platform to their liking, depending on their specific trading needs.

OpenSea Pro's marketplace aggregator provides another critical aspect of the platform. It allows users to access listings from more than 170 NFT marketplaces, including OpenSea. This cross-market functionality also enables traders to identify price discrepancies across various platforms. In addition, the platform's data aggregation feature helps NFT traders build an overall picture of the NFT market, making it easier to spot trends and opportunities. Like OpenSea, OpenSea Pro also offers integration with an array of blockchain platforms, including Ethereum, Polygon, and Solana. By combining all of these features, OpenSea Pro delivers a NFT trading experience specifically designed for NFT traders in need of more resources than OpenSea had previously offered.

How Does OpenSea Pro Differ from OpenSea?

Another key difference between OpenSea Pro and OpenSea involves trading fees, or rather lack thereof. OpenSea had historically charged a 2.5% sales fee, before recently dropping it to further compete with Blur. With the launch of OpenSea Pro, the 2.5% fee has returned to OpenSea, with OpenSea Pro charging no fees for, according to the company, “a promotional period.”

OpenSea Pro also provides users with advanced order types, such as limit orders and stop-loss orders, which are not available on the standard OpenSea platform. These order types give traders more control over their trades and allow them to set specific parameters for buying and selling NFTs. Additionally, the platform provides users with automated trading options, which can execute trades based on preset conditions, such as price movements or market trends.

On the whole, OpenSea Pro offers a more robust trading experience for professional NFT traders, with advanced tools and features that enable them to trade more efficiently and profitably. The platform's focus on cross-market data and advanced order types helps traders stay ahead of market trends and better capitalize on opportunities in the rapidly evolving NFT market.

How Has OpenSea Pro Compared to Blur?

Despite OpenSea’s primacy over the NFT market for years, OpenSea and Blur have undergone quite the battle since Blur’s emergence, and that battle has further escalated since the launch of OpenSea Pro. Blur has quickly dominated the NFT market since its arrival, due in part to its token rewards program, which has thus far distributed more than $200 million worth of rewards to its users.

OpenSea, however, quickly reclaimed its lead following the April 4 launch of OpenSea Pro, which saw a spike in both new and active daily users and an abrupt increase in daily transaction share, capturing over 55.1% of the market to Blur’s 29.5% by the following day (before the launch of OpenSea Pro, Blur had itself hovered at around 55%). OpenSea Pro has even coopted some of Blur’s tactics, offering its own “Gemesis” air drop, which awards a free NFT to anyone who bought one on Gem before the rollout of OpenSea Pro (this NFT must be claimed by May 4).

What Might OpenSea Pro Mean for the NFT Space Moving Forward?

The launch of OpenSea Pro demonstrates not only an expanding NFT market but a growing demand for more sophisticated trading tools and features among professional NFT traders. And OpenSea Pro's success so far indicates a market underserved by platforms that cater specifically to this audience.

For OpenSea, OpenSea Pro of course provides an opportunity to expand its market share and reclaim its dominance in the NFT aggregator space. The rollout also shows that OpenSea remains willing to adapt and innovate to stay ahead of its competition. And for Blur, the launch of OpenSea Pro means that it won’t be able to simply rest on its laurels if it wants to retain its ascendant place in the industry. However, Blur's airdrop model has proven wildly successful thus far, and it remains to be seen how OpenSea’s Gemesis NFT drop will fare in comparison.

In addition to access to over 170 NFT marketplaces, OpenSea Pro also provides compatibility with numerous blockchain platforms, including Solana. OpenSea first integrated with Solana, which has its own robust network of NFT projects (as well as NFT marketplaces like Solanart, SolSea, and Magic Eden), in April 2022, which has allowed OpenSea users to enjoy low gas fees and fast transactions. With the new platform, Solana wallet holders will also now have a further-streamlined and user-friendly interface to explore, purchase, and sell NFTs. Additionally, the overlap between OpenSea Pro and Solana could help fuel interest in Solana NFT projects while increasing adoption and usage of the Solana blockchain, which could lead to improved network effects and increased demand for SOL tokens. In short, the launch of OpenSea Pro will likely mean mutual benefits for NFT traders and Solana proponents alike.

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Conclusion

The rapid embrace of OpenSea Pro indicates the continuing growth and evolution of the NFT market, if nothing else. And as more investors and traders enter the space, the demand for more sophisticated tools and features will likely continue to grow as well. OpenSea Pro's initial success also highlights the importance of innovation and adaptation among NFT aggregators, as platforms willing to evolve and meet the changing needs of their users will prove far more likely to succeed in the long run.

And, as the NFT market further matures, it remains likely that we will also see more platforms emerge like OpenSea Pro that attempt to cater specifically to professional NFT traders. But for now, this much remains true: no matter how long you’ve been on top of the market—whether measured in years, in OpenSea’s case, or months, in Blur’s—you’re always one rival product launch away from being unseated, at least for now.

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