Ethereum NFT marketplace OpenSea is introducing ‘gas-free’ transactions 🚨 This article is 3 years old...
Ethereum NFT marketplace OpenSea is introducing ‘gas-free’ transactions
NFTs are currently one of the hottest trends in crypto and general tech. And a new collaboration is making their ‘minting’ easier.
2 min read
Updated: Mar. 22, 2022 at 10:29 pm UTC
Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.
Try issuing a non-fungible token (NFT) on Ethereum and chances are you’ll spend upwards of $150 in ‘gas’ to simply approve, mint, and host your crypto art, virtual land, or digital collectible on the world’s most-used blockchain.
The fee stems from the charges you’d pay to miners for transacting on and interacting with Ethereum. And they are arguably a hindrance for a budding artist or a high school student trying to make money via selling digital art.
OpenSea’s low-gas push
OpenSea, one of the world’s biggest NFT marketplaces, is trying to solve that. As per a release shared with CryptoSlate, the firm bringing gas-free trading to Ethereum users via a new partnership with Immutable X, it said in a release shared with CryptoSlate.
“Integrating Immutable X enables us to offer users a gas-free trading experience without sacrificing the security of the Ethereum network,” said Nate Chastain, Head of Product at OpenSea.
He added the firm was rolling out the project earlier to both support existing Immutable X projects and to ensure that future game developers and players on OpenSea benefit from the scaling solution.
Immutable X is coming to OpenSea! We're excited to announce OpenSea will soon support the trading of NFTs on their gas-free layer-2 protocol, built directly on Ethereum. #Immutable #OpenSea pic.twitter.com/B3Y5j7Lfue
— OpenSea (@opensea) March 31, 2021
Layer-2 usage for NFTs
Immutable X is a gas-free layer-2 protocol for Ethereum NFTs. ‘Layer 2’ protocols, as per the Ethereum Foundation, is a collective term for solutions designed to help scale your application by handling transactions off the main Ethereum chain (layer 1).
The protocol has been touted as a serious contender for the first Layer 2 scaling solution for NFTs on Ethereum—offering instant trade confirmation, massive scalability (9,000 TPS+), and zero gas fees to users without compromising their custody.
It’s developed by Immutable, an Australian blockchain firm that is behind games like Gods Unchained and other NFT-focused offerings. The company provides sellers and buyers with true digital property rights and builds infrastructure for marketplaces that developers can use to provide better value to their users.
The move comes on the back of OpenSea announcing a $23 million fundraise to support growing their ocean of 20 million+ NFTs last month, which itself came on the back of a boisterous growth period for NFTs over the past year.
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