OpenSea-owned aggregator Gem has been renamed — OpenSea Pro. Users who purchased an NFT on Gem before March 31 will be eligible to receive a free Gemesis NFT.
Today, we’re excited to unveil OpenSea Pro (previously Gem v2) – the fastest and most powerful NFT marketplace aggregator in the industry! Some history in the ?below https://t.co/bjpBKSyNZo
— OpenSea (@opensea) April 4, 2023
OpenSea Pro allows purchasing NFTs on 170 different marketplaces, classifying tokens by various parameters. The platform enables buying multiple digital items in a single transaction, which saves money.
After several months of development, the Gem team released a new version of the aggregator with enhanced functionality, including new order types, improved monitoring of marketplace events, and the state of users’ assets.
As part of the promotion, OpenSea Pro introduced zero fees for trades. Those who completed trades before March 31 will be eligible for a Gemesis NFT.
In The Block described OpenSea’s initiative as a ‘belated’ attempt in the fight against Blur. Analyst Brad Key questioned whether whales would return to the platform.
‘The opportunity costs of switching to OpenSea are too high. 70% of Blur’s total turnover is generated by 1% of users, while the former leader accounts for only 20% of trading volume,— explained the analyst.
According to The Block, Blur held 71.1% market share in March, OpenSea 20.4%. Competition intensified in November 2022, and in February 2023 the last NFT marketplace yielded leadership to the former leader.
In February 2023, amid the standoff between the two platforms, the OpenSea team switched the marketplace to an opt-in royalties model, temporarily waived commissions and allowed assets to be listed on third-party marketplaces.
Blur has solidified the status of the leading platform in the space, leaving behind OpenSea. In March, daily volumes were three times higher.
Earlier, Blur announced the distribution of more than 300 million BLUR tokens in the second season of the airdrop.