A new NFT marketplace launched “By NFT People, For NFT People” has taken the non-fungible token market by storm and could provide competition to OpenSea and the pending launch of a marketplace from Coinbase Global Inc COIN.
What Happened: LooksRare launched as an NFT marketplace this week and is the talk of the town in the sector. The marketplace features NFTs built on the Ethereum ETH/USD blockchain that appear on OpenSea and some that don’t.
Users can place offers and buy NFTs from projects using ETH and WETH (wrapped Ethereum).
“LooksRare was launched to offer an NFT marketplace that rewards active users for their trading instead of just taking the fees as profit,” LooksRare investor Hunter Orrell told Benzinga. Orrell was an early seed investor in LooksRare and was involved with providing feedback, launch strategy and bug/user experience improvements to the company.
Traders on LooksRare are rewarded with the LooksRare LOOKS/USD token.
“These tokens can also be staked to earn additional $LOOKS and fees (the 2% from trading) in WETH generated by the platform. That means the people who use and stake are ultimately the ones earning the 2% of fees.”
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Taking On OpenSea: Recently valued at $13.3 billion, OpenSea has been the dominant player in the NFT marketplace space but faced criticism along the way.
Cryptocurrency platform Coinbase has more than 2.5 million people signed up for an NFT marketplace that many welcome to the sector.
“There are tons of marketplaces out there right now and I believe there is room for more, but they need to offer something that is unique to users. LooksRare, besides just allowing users to be rewarded, is focused on providing more tools than other platforms,” Orrell said.
One feature called the "Collection Wide Offer" tool has been well received by the community, Orrell added.
“LooksRare was built using modular smart contracts, which means features like Collection Wide Offers can be depreciated and updated by removing and adding a new smart contract component.”
Orrell said this and other features make LooksRare more agile than OpenSea. LooksRare can also adapt to new mechanisms of the NFT industry faster than OpenSea.
The creators of LooksRare shared their thoughts on the launch in a post.
“We’re tired of the deplatforming of creators and the decision-makers who value business over community, seeking IPO instead of benefitting the communities that got them there. So we’re building something better,” LooksRare anonymous founders Zodd and Guts said.
As a competing marketplace, an NFT collection can have different floor prices on the two marketplaces.
Looks Token: Users who spent 3 ETH or more on Opensea between June 16, 2021 and Dec. 16, 2021 received a free airdrop of LOOKs tokens.
LooksRare provides a guide on how to claim the airdrop and more about the token here.
“The token is important because of the fees earning ability through staking. It also is important as it serves as the basis for how users are rewarded for trading and using the platform,” Orrell said.
LooksRare users earn LOOKs tokens through qualified collections or can purchase the token on Uniswap.
Users can stake LOOKs to earn additional tokens and fees from the platform.
“The above fees sharing model and reward system for qualified trades means that users are the ones rewarded.”
LOOKS was trading at $4.31 at the time of writing, up 34% on Wednesday. The token has traded between $1.97 and $4.44 since launching.
Orrell will be a featured guest on Benzinga's "The Roadmap," Jan. 12, 2022, airing live at 2 p.m. EST.
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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