In another attempt to win back its users from its budding nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace competitor Blur, OpenSea rebranded Gem v2 into OpenSea Pro, triggering mixed responses from the community.
On April 4, OpenSea launched its advanced NFT marketplace aggregator, OpenSea Pro. The platform introduced new features and tools and allowed users to list in OpenSea through the new platform with 0% fees for a limited time.
Many were excited about the new platform and expressed their sentiments on Twitter. A community member congratulated the NFT marketplace and said it would enhance users’ experience within the NFT space. Another user said they’ve always liked Gem as an NFT aggregation platform. The community member added that they like it more now because OpenSea is giving it the proper priority.
Related: Blur runs after OpenSea market share, but its success depends on upcoming governance proposals
While some celebrated the new development, not everyone was happy with the latest move from OpenSea. In a tweet, one community member argued that the NFT marketplace has “completely failed to rock the boat.” Another community member, Samit Max Patel, said the platform looked more like trading tools, arguing that it should be about art and artists. Patel tweeted:
When are you going to support the artists? The platform looks great but it’s all become like trading tools when it should be about the art.
— Samit Max Patel (@iamsamitpatel) April 4, 2023
Apart from positive and negative sentiments, community members also expressed their anticipation as to where the NFT marketplace wars between OpenSea and Blur are headed. A user even tagged Blur on Twitter, asking about their next move. Meanwhile, NFT strategist Hunter Solaire said that this war is headed towards more improvement within the space.
OpenSea acquired Blur in April 2022 with the aim of catering to more seasoned NFT collectors and enhancing their experience. Gem allowed traders to buy NFTs across different marketplaces and various collections within a single transaction, lowering the required gas fees.
Some believe that the move is another response to the growth of its rival NFT marketplace Blur which surpassed OpenSea’s daily Ether (ETH) trading volume on Feb. 18. The marketplace also implemented other strategies like lowering the platform’s fees and giving more earnings to creators to win back its users lost to Blur.
Magazine: Best and worst countries for crypto taxes — Plus crypto tax tips
