Looking for projects with real "added value", watch OpenSea teach you how to "Stud" NFT

Guest: Joshua OpenSea founding member

Moderator: Founder of Xiaomiao Beep / Founder of Miaodang Blockchain

Sharing topic: From the perspective of trading platforms, how can ordinary users invest in NFT and make profits?

Sharing time: 2020.07.09 15:00pm

"Be long on NFT!" Over the past few months, this has become the new goal of a small group of NFT enthusiasts. They bet wildly and moved around on major trading platforms at home and abroad, sweeping all kinds of unique numbers like a hungry tiger. artwork. But for another group of people, NFT still seems out of reach. How to plan ahead to earn the first pot of gold before the turmoil comes, this issue of PlanB invited Joshua, the founding member of Opensea, to chat with you about how ordinary users can invest in NFT and make profits from the perspective of trading platforms.

Q: Before we officially enter the interview, let's hear how Joshua got into this circle?

Before we drump into the fisrt question, would you give us a brief intro and how you get into this bussiness?

A: My name is Joshua and I am a founding engineer of OpenSea. Before, I worked as a technical director at Facebook, but I was very interested in the NFT field, so I joined OpenSea.

Devin, the CEO of OpenSea, extended an olive branch to me. He said that NFT will open up a new world full of possibilities in the digital world. After seeing it myself, I agree with this statement.

My name is Joshua and I work as a Founding Engineer of OpenSea. Previously I was a tech lead at Facebook, but I was excited about the NFT space, so I joined OpenSea.

Devin, the CEO of OpenSea, had reached out to me about the opportunity. He explained that the NFT space is opening up a new world of possibilities in the digital world, and after looking into it myself I came to agree that it is an exciting new space.

Q: OpenSea has become the world's largest encrypted digital collection market (established in January 2018). What do you think are the reasons why OpenSea can remain competitive?

We all know that OpenSea is now the largest market for NFT, What reasons you believe keep OpenSea remaining competitive?

A: Our motto is to keep pace with users. We believe that we can remain competitive by making sure that the most apps/most popular apps take advantage of our marketplace.

Our motto is to go where the users go. We believe we stay competitive by making sure that the majority of applications/the most popular applications can take advantage of our marketplace.

Q: So far, what are the cumulative number of users and transaction volume of OpenSea? Based on the number of wallets in OpenSea, someone speculates that the number of NFT users is currently at the level of cryptocurrency in August 2012. What do you think about this? Where do you think the NFT market is currently in its life cycle?

What are the cumulative number of users and transaction volume of OpenSea so far? Based on the volume of OpenSea wallets, people conjects that the number of NFT users is currently at cryptocurrency levels as of August 2012, what do you think of that? Which state do you think the NFT market is now in its life cycle?

A: I don't have a specific total number of unique users at hand right now, but we currently have an average of 5,000 unique core users per month. Core users are those who perform "core actions", such as buying/selling items. In terms of circulation, our marketplace has approximately $15 million in circulation so far.

I think more and more people are beginning to realize the value of NFT, and it is higher than what people knew about Bitcoin in 2012. I think NFT will surge in 2020 to some extent, but not as badly as the cryptocurrency bubble. I don't think this bubble will happen in 2020.

We are not currently seeing an exponential growth in interest in NFTs. Most people have heard of Bitcoin, but most have not heard of NFTs. I think it will be at least two to three years before there is a change.

I don’t have the number of total unique users with me right now, but we currently average about 5,000 unique core users per month. Core users are users who perform “core actions” such as buying/selling items. In terms of volume, so far we’ve had about $15M USD go through our marketplace.

I think more people are seeing the value of NFTs, more so than how people viewed bitcoin back in 2012. I think it will soar as some point but not as much as the cryptocurrency bubble did. And I don’t think it will be in 2020.

Well, we haven’t yet seen an exponential increase in interest of NFTs. Most people have heard of bitcoin, but most people haven’t heard of NFTs. I think adoption will take at least another 2-3 years.  

Q: In terms of transaction volume, encrypted art and virtual land are currently the most popular categories on OpenSea. What do you think are the reasons? Which other categories have a clear upward trend? What do they have in common?

In terms of trading volume, crypto art like Superare and virtual space like DCL/CV are the two most popular categories on OpenSea at present. What do you think are the reasons?What other categories are showing a significant upward trend? Do they have anything in common?

Answer: Virtual art and virtual world are the two most direct and simple NFT applications. Crypto art provides an additional avenue for fans of artists to purchase digital works and support their favorite artists. People can exchange land in a virtual world—a simple concept anyone can understand. Games like Minecraft, Second Life, World of Warcraft may have made the concept more familiar.

We've also seen a slow rise in the card game Gods Unchaineds, and another new card game called Skyweaver is coming soon.

Crypto art and virtual worlds are two of the most direct and simple applications of NFTs. Crypto art provides a way for fans of artists to get enjoy greater meaning in buying digital works from and supporting their favorite artists. In virtual worlds, people can trade land—it’s a simple concept that anyone can understand. And games like Minecraft, Second Life, or World of Warcraft may have already made people more comfortable with the concept.

We’re also seeing more interest in card games like Gods Unchained. A new card game called SkyWeaver is coming out soon.  

Q: Which style of NFT project/work do you personally prefer? For some ordinary investors who want to make profits through NFT, what is your suggestion?

Which type of NFT project/work you prefer better ? What is your advice to retail investors who may want to profit from NFT?

A: I like supporting projects that interact with other projects. In terms of NFT, my suggestion to retail investors is to look for projects that can bring real added value to users, not just for easy profits from users. Projects based on speculation are bad investments.

I like projects that let other projects interact with their NFTs. My advice to retail investors is to look for projects that offer true added value to its users and are not just trying to profit easily off its users. Projects that are based on speculation are bad investments.

Q: In terms of scarcity, the supply of NFTs to the market seems to be infinite (compared to Bitcoin), which is the main reason why I did not invest in NFTs. How do you understand the scarcity of NFTs?

In terms of scarcity, NFT seems to have an unlimited supply to the market (compared with Bitcoin), that's the main reason that stop me to invest in NFT, how do you understand the scarcity in NFT?

Answer: The value of each NFT is defined according to all the applications that interact with it. Unlike Bitcoin, NFTs have value beyond just scarcity. This is a common question, and we've written about it before.

Instead, we believe demand is driven by more traditional forces: usage and origin. The uses are obvious: I'm willing to buy an NFT ticket because it gives me access to a certain conference, and I'm more willing to buy a piece of art if I can show it off in the virtual world if it gives me special The ability, I am also willing to pay for it. The concept of origin outlines the story behind the NFT. Where did it come from? Who owned it in the past? As the space matures, interesting NFT stories can become more complex and begin to meaningfully affect the value of tokens.

Even for me, I can create unlimited "unique" NFT works at zero cost. Coupled with the fact that there is no regulation to force the output of works by big-name artists. Retail speculators may only pay attention to their price and not the history of NFT.

The value is each NFT is defined by all the applications that interact with it. Unlike bitcoin, the value of NFTs isn’t just scarcity. This is a common myth and we have written about it before.

Instead, we think demand is driven by more traditional forces: utility and provenance. Utility is the obvious one: I’m willing to buy an NFT ticket because it lets me into a conference, I’m more willing to buy a piece of art if I can show it off in a virtual world, and I’m willing to buy an item if it gives me special abilities in a game. The concept of provenance encapsulates the story behind an NFT.  Where did it come from? Who’s owned it in the past? As the space matures, the stories of interesting NFTs grow more complex and start to meaningfully impact a token’s value.

Even for me, I can also produce unlimited "unique" NFTs without cost. Plus there is no code to force the big-name artists to have a limited supply.  Retail speculators may only focus on their price rather than NFT's history.

Question: There is a view that the liquidity premium brought by NFT is the core that supports its value as an asset. However, at present, the liquidity of NFT is still insufficient. How to solve it?

At present, the liquidity of NFT is still insufficient, do you think it's problem and how could we solve that?

A: This is a question of great interest to us. We are planning to build solutions to increase liquidity, including considering becoming an NFT market maker. Of course, large-scale landing will also solve this problem

That is a problem we are very interested in. We are planning on building solutions to add liquidity, including thinking about becoming a market maker for NFTs.Of course, increased adoption will help solve this problem.

Q: NFT transactions are currently on-chain, right? If we introduce market makers, is it possible to support offline transactions?

The transactions about NFT are all on blockchain right? If we involve in with market maker, could it make transactions offchian?

Answer: All transactions are on-chain.

Of course. All the transactions would be on-chain.

Q: OpenSea has achieved very good results in the past two or three years. What room for improvement does the team think? Can you tell us about the next series of plans of OpenSea? It’s been a while since the last round of financing. Is there any plan for the next round of fundraising?

OpenSea has made great achievements in the past two or three years. What space does the team think remains for improvement? Can you tell us a little bit about the next few steps for OpenSea? And also the fundrasing plan?

Answer: OpenSea is actively advancing to give users a better experience. You can expect an updated asset browse page this year. We've also made major improvements to our servers to make sure everything runs fast during times of peak user volume. Multi-chain is on our roadmap and we want to support blockchains other than Ethereum there. We're also working on better support for half-replacements, with a similar scheme.

We are not actively seeking another round of investment, but we may consider accepting funding from other blockchain projects that would like us to support them soon.

We are actively making OpenSea an easier user experience. You can expect a revamped asset browsing page soon this year. We are also making big improvements to our servers to make sure everything can run quickly without problems at peak user volume. On our roadmap is multi-chain, where we are looking to support blockchains other than Ethereum. We are also adding better support for semi-fungibles and providing similarly treatment to NFTs that behave like semi-fungibles.

We aren’t actively looking for another round of investment, but we may consider some grants from other blockchains who want us to support them soon.

Q: Compared with overseas, China’s development on the NFT track is a bit quiet. In your opinion, what is the reason for the differentiation? What layout will OpenSea make in China?

Compared with overseas, The development of NFT in China is somewhat slow. In your opinion, what is the reason for the differentiation? What is OpenSea’s next move in China?

A: Development in China is generally slower because some of the services we use for our platform are not available in China. We have also received feedback from Chinese users regarding the use of the site. We are actively addressing these issues and building different or separate infrastructure for China.

Development for China is usually slower because some of the services we use for our platform are not available in China. We also have receive various report of things not working on the website as expected when the user is from China. We are actively addressing these issues by building different or separate infrastructure specifically for China.