Binance is the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange and has become the go-to source for Bitcoin and a wide range of altcoins. The company also launched a non-fungible token (NFT) exchange in the middle of 2021 to capitalize on the rising popularity of these unique crypto assets.
Although the Binance NFT marketplace is new, it’s already starting to rise in popularity as more and more users start to dive into metaverse collectibles.
What exactly is the Binance NFT marketplace, how does it stack up against the competition, and should you consider signing up? Read on to find out!
Key Features of Binance NFT
Binance NFT is a relatively young marketplace, but it’s already attracted more than 800 creators and a large audience of collectors to its platform.
One of the main drivers of the marketplace is price. In most NFT marketplaces, traders pay between 2.5% and 5% transaction fees on secondary transactions and fees as high as 15% on primary transactions. However, on the Binance marketplace, you only pay a flat 1% fee to trade.
The Binance Smart Chain (BSC), the company’s proprietary blockchain, greatly reduces gas fees on the platform by allowing users to pay with its native Binance Coin (BNB). You can mint your own NFT for a gas fee of just 0.000001 BNB on Binance Smart Chain, which works out to about four-hundredths of a penny.
The platform also has plenty of NFTs to choose from, accepts a wide range of payment methods, and lets sellers hold onto more of their profits with low 1% royalties.
Plenty of NFTs to Choose From
Whether you’re a beginner looking to start a new NFT collection or a professional trader looking for trending digital assets to tap into, you won’t have a problem finding what you’re looking for on the Binance NFT marketplace.
All told, the marketplace features more than 300,000 different digital collectibles, many of which are minted by one of its more than 800 digital artists and unique to the platform.
Binance Smart Chain (BSC)
The Binance Smart Chain is the company’s proprietary blockchain. It’s compatible with the Ethereum blockchain too since it was developed as a hard fork. Like the Ethereum blockchain, the BSC supports smart contracts and provides a secure ledger used to verify the ownership of digital art and other assets.
However, there’s one big difference between the BSC and Ethereum.
The Binance Smart Chain is a much more efficient piece of technology, greatly reducing the cost of gas fees. This is important because gas fees on Ethereum have climbed to what some would call ridiculous levels. It’s not uncommon to spend more than $100 worth of ETH on a fee for nothing more than processing a transaction on the Ethereum blockchain when there are high levels of demand.
Gas fees on the Binance Smart Chain are generally a small fraction of a penny. Whether you’re minting a new NFT or buying, selling, and trading digital art, you’re going to save money using the Binance Smart Chain.
Payment Methods
Binance supports four different payment methods. Of course, the platform accepts its native Binance Coin (BNB). It also accepts two other cryptocurrencies — Ethereum (ETH) and Binance USD Coin (BUSD). If you’re more comfortable dealing in fiat currency than cryptocurrency, you’re in luck. You can also use your debit card for transactions on the marketplace.
Mystery Boxes
Mystery boxes are unique to Binance. These mystery boxes are a fun way to tap into the NFT industry, and in some ways, a bit of a gamble. You can purchase a mystery box for as little as $20. As its name suggests, what you’ll get when you open the box is a mystery.
Each mystery box is part of a dedicated collection. Once you buy the box, you can unpack it to see what surprise art lies inside. In some cases, the NFTs found in the mystery boxes will be worth well over what you paid for them.
Three Ways to Buy, Sell, & Trade NFTs
There are three ways to go about buying, selling, and trading NFTs on the Binance NFT marketplace:
- Fixed Price Sales. You can list your NFTs for sale at a fixed price. When a buyer comes along who’s willing to pay the price, they buy the NFT in a traditional style transaction.
- Auction. You can also list your NFTs in auctions. When setting up an auction, you set the floor price, or minimum bid, and the amount of time the auction will be open to bidders. Popular auctions are one of the best ways to sell because the sky’s the limit on pricing.
- Accept an Offer. Interested buyers can make unsolicited offers for an NFT another user owns but has not listed for sale. If the owner is happy with the offer, they can accept it and the sale will be completed.
Binance Wallet
Crypto wallets are a must when you collect NFTs. These are digital wallets where crypto assets are stored. Most NFT marketplaces don’t offer their own dedicated wallet service, but Binance isn’t like most NFT marketplaces.
Binance offers a secure crypto wallet option that seamlessly integrates with its platform. However, you don’t have to use the Binance wallet. The marketplace is compatible with all popular alternatives.
Low Royalties
Low royalties are at the end here because they’re both an advantage and a disadvantage. When you collect and sell NFTs on the secondary market, a portion of the sale price is often given to the artist as a royalty payment. In most marketplaces, royalties range from 5% to 15% and can cut deep gashes into your profitability as a collector and trader.
However, royalties on the Binance platform are only 1%. Adding in the fee for selling on the platform, your total cost to sell is 2% plus minimal gas fees, which is lower than most transaction fees in the industry.
Although low royalties are great for resellers, they’re not so great for artists. One of the exciting aspects of the NFT industry for artists is that they share in secondary market profits, which isn’t usually the case in traditional art sales. However, artists aren’t likely to be as interested in working with a platform that only pays a 1% royalty on secondary sales.
Advantages of Binance NFT
Binance quickly grew to be a leader in the cryptocurrency space and seems to be doing the same with NFTs. However, the company wasn’t just handed this leadership. It comes from the fact that buying, selling, trading, and even minting with Binance has advantages. Some of the biggest advantages to using the Binance NFT marketplace include:
- A Trusted Service Provider. Binance may be a relatively young company, but it’s a highly trusted brand in the cryptocurrency industry. NFTs are the next step in the natural evolution of the crypto asset industry for which Binance was built. When you work with Binance, you can rest assured you’re working with a leader.
- Security. Binance has security down to a science. All data transferred from your computer to Binance servers (and vice versa) is encrypted. Even if someone was to intercept the data, they couldn’t read it. You can also set up two-factor authentication to add yet another layer of security to your personal Binance account.
- Low Transaction Fees. Most NFT marketplaces have 2.5% transaction fees or higher. In some cases, primary transaction fees are as high as 15%. On the Binance platform, however, you’ll only pay a 1% transaction fee whether you’re buying, selling, or trading.
- Low Gas Fees for Minting. Many artists who want to get into the NFT industry have been turned off by the high gas fees associated with minting new collectibles. However, the gas fee on the Binance Smart Chain is only 0.000001 BNB, or about four-hundredths of a penny.
- Low Royalties. Although a 1% royalty may be a turnoff for some artists, it’s a major plus for collectors. When you decide it’s time to sell pieces of your collection, your profits won’t be eaten up by royalty payments.
Disadvantages of Binance NFT
There are plenty of reasons to consider accessing the NFT market with Binance, but there are some drawbacks to using the platform as well. Some of the biggest drawbacks include:
- Fees Paid by Both Sides. On most NFT platforms, either the buyer or the seller pays the transaction fee. On Binance, both the buyer and the seller pay the fee. The silver lining is that the 1% fee is the lowest in the industry.
- Low Royalties May Turn Off Artists. Some argue that the company may struggle to attract artists who want to be paid bigger royalty payments. The low royalty rate on Binance NFT is not only a disadvantage for the artist, it could be a disadvantage for collectors because they may have to go elsewhere to find works by their favorite creators.
- Added Speculation. NFTs are already highly speculative assets with a significant potential for loss. However, Binance seems to have built on the speculative instincts of NFT collectors with its mystery boxes. While mystery boxes add a level of excitement to the NFT industry, they’re also eerily similar to gambling and may come with the same addictive potential.
- NFTs Lack Liquidity. Finally, tons of newcomers are diving into NFTs as investments rather than art purchases. Unfortunately, the industry is notorious for low levels of liquidity. When it’s time to sell your NFTs, you may have a hard time finding a buyer who’s willing to pay what you want for them.
How Binance NFT Stacks Up
The most popular NFT marketplace is OpenSea, but Binance NFT is working to attract artists in similar ways to SuperRare. How does the platform stack up to these market leaders? Here’s how they compare:
| Binance NFT | OpenSea | SuperRare | |
| Number of NFTs Available | Over 300,000. | Over 80 million. | More than 31,000. |
| Transaction Fees | 1% fee paid by both the buyer and the seller. | 2.5% fee paid by the seller. | 15% primary transaction fee paid by the seller. 3% primary and secondary transaction fee paid by the buyer. |
| Payment Methods | Debit card, credit card, BNB, BUSD, and ETH. | Debit card, credit card, ETH, WETH, SOL, USDC, DAQ, and other cryptocurrencies. | ETH. |
Final Word
Binance is a new player in the NFT game, but it’s hitting the market with a splash. That’s to be expected from a brand that’s the go-to crypto exchange. Although there are a few drawbacks to the service — mainly low royalties and added speculation — there are several perks to using Binance as your entry point to the NFT industry.
Nonetheless, you shouldn’t sign up for the first NFT marketplace you find. The crypto industry as a whole is pretty new, and NFTs are even newer. The industry is fragmented, with several players vying for a leadership position. This means fees and offers vary wildly from one platform to the next, so it’s important to compare several NFT marketplaces before choosing one to hang your hat on.