How OpenSea Kept Trading Activity Against LooksRare

LooksRare launched in January 2022 as an Ethereum NFT marketplace that paid its LOOKS token to traders and stakers. The pitch was simple: trade on LooksRare, earn rewards, and the platform would draw users away from OpenSea, which had been the dominant venue for most of the previous year.

The launch was busy. Coverage at the time reported a distributed denial-of-service attack during the first days, which tested the platform's infrastructure just as new users arrived. Attention brought traffic, and for a while LooksRare's trading figures looked strong on paper.

The key point for readers is that the launch was a test of incentives against an incumbent with a large, established user base. Token rewards can move volume quickly. Whether that volume sticks depends on whether traders want the listings, the liquidity and the experience once the rewards become smaller or less attractive.

• LooksRare entered a market where OpenSea had a deep order book and a large user base.
• Its main tool was LOOKS token rewards for trading and staking.
• Early growth was real in terms of activity, but its durability was uncertain from the start.

Incentive programs pay users to trade, so they can make a marketplace look busy without proving that buyers want the assets. Reporting in 2022 described LooksRare as a venue where many accounts were mostly selling, which suggested that some activity was driven by rewards rather than by collectors looking to hold NFTs.

This matters because volume can be created in several ways. Users can trade back and forth to earn rewards, which is often called wash trading when the trades do not reflect a real change of ownership. Some listings may also be created to qualify for rewards rather than to find a buyer.

When a platform shows a sharp rise in volume after a token program starts, ask how much of that rise continues once rewards are reduced. A venue with lasting demand usually keeps buyers and sellers even when the financial incentive is smaller.

• Reward-driven trades can inflate totals without adding new buyers.
• Wash trading is a common concern in incentive periods.
• Look at repeat buyers over several months, not just the first weeks.

OpenSea's position did not rest on one feature. It had a large catalogue of listings, deep liquidity across many collections and a brand that new collectors already knew. Those advantages made it the default place many people went to buy or sell, even when rivals offered better rewards.

The company also kept expanding. It added support for more blockchains, tools for creators and developers, and wallet-based access. Bloomberg reported in January 2024 that OpenSea had raised funding at a valuation of about $13 billion, a figure that reflects how central it had become to the market, though the valuation itself is a past reported number and not a current one.

The general lesson is that an incumbent can keep activity by staying useful for the most common tasks: finding a listing quickly, selling an item, and trusting that the platform will process the trade. Those needs do not disappear when a competitor offers a token reward.

• Liquidity and listing depth keep traders where the most items are for sale.
• Brand familiarity lowers the effort needed to start trading.
• Ongoing product work helps a platform stay relevant after a rival launches.

Royalties are fees that creators receive on secondary sales. For years they were built into many NFT collection terms, and many marketplaces honored them. When some venues made royalties optional, the rules of trading changed, and the debate affected which marketplaces collectors and aggregators chose to support.

In August 2023, The Block reported that Rarible would stop aggregating orders from OpenSea, LooksRare and X2Y2 amid the royalty debate. Aggregators collect listings from several venues so that a buyer can find the best price across them. If an aggregator drops a venue, that venue can lose visibility, which affects its volume.

For readers, the takeaway is that marketplace activity depends on more than fees and rewards. Royalty policy, aggregator support and collection terms all shape where a trade happens. Check how a marketplace handles royalties before you list or buy a collection.

• Royalty policy can change where collectors choose to trade.
• Aggregator decisions affect how easily listings are found.
• Collection terms and marketplace rules may not match, so read both.

Activity can be measured in several ways, and each measure answers a different question. Total volume shows the value traded. Sales count shows how many transactions happened. Unique buyers and sellers show how many different accounts took part. Each one can be misleading when used alone.

When comparing LooksRare and OpenSea, the 2022 coverage relied on different measures, and the numbers reported by different outlets varied with their methods and time windows. Some figures put OpenSea's share of sales far above LooksRare's, while others focused on how many traders left LooksRare after rewards shrank. Neither view tells the full story alone.

When you read any claim about a marketplace, ask which measure is used, which time period is covered, and whether the figures include reward-driven trades. Those three questions quickly reveal whether the claim describes real demand or temporary activity.

Measure	What it shows	Main limitation
Total volume	Value traded	Can include self-trades
Sales count	Number of transactions	Can be inflated by small trades
Unique buyers and sellers	Breadth of participation	Accounts can be duplicated
Repeat buyers	Lasting interest	Needs a longer window

By 2026, the NFT market is quieter than it was during its 2021 and early 2022 peak, and the competitive picture has changed several times. A 2026 comparison from a startup research site said OpenSea still matters because retail traffic matters, while also noting that LooksRare showed incentives can bootstrap activity without always creating durable demand. That view fits the historical pattern described above.

It is also true that many newer venues have appeared, each with its own focus, from curated art to trading cards and gaming items. A marketplace that leads in one category may be a small player in another, so it helps to compare platforms for the kind of asset you actually want to buy or sell.

Because market data changes daily, this article does not state current market shares or volumes. Use live dashboards and blockchain explorers to see what is happening now, and treat any figure older than a few weeks with caution.

• Retail traffic and brand familiarity still matter for incumbents.
• Incentive-led growth tends to fade when rewards shrink.
• Current volumes change quickly, so check live sources before deciding.

You can run your own check in under an hour, using only public information. The aim is to see whether a marketplace's activity holds up across time and across different kinds of trades, rather than relying on a single headline number.

1. Pick the marketplace and the chain it operates on, then open its official activity or statistics page.
2. Set the same time window for every venue you compare, such as the last 30 days and the last 90 days.
3. Record total volume, sales count and unique buyers and sellers for each window.
4. Check whether a token reward or other incentive ran during the period, and when it ended.
5. Look up a few large transactions on a blockchain explorer to confirm the buyer and seller are different accounts.
6. Compare the results with a second source, and note any differences in method.
7. Write down your conclusion and revisit it after the next full month.

This process will not give you a perfect answer, but it reduces the chance that a rewards spike will mislead you.

Trading NFTs involves several security risks that have nothing to do with which marketplace is busiest. Phishing sites often copy the look of well-known platforms, and fake listings can appear on any venue. Token rewards can also encourage quick decisions, which is when mistakes happen.

Start by bookmarking the official marketplace address yourself rather than following links from messages or social posts. Before you connect a wallet, read what it is asking you to sign. Some signatures grant ongoing permission to move assets, so only approve what you understand and revoke permissions you no longer need.

Keep your recovery phrase offline and never share it with anyone, including people who claim to be support staff. If a deal looks too good to be true, pause and check the collection's official channels. Defensive habits protect you more than any single marketplace feature.

• Type or save the official address yourself.
• Read every signature request before approving it.
• Review and revoke old token permissions regularly.
• Never share your recovery phrase.

A marketplace's activity can be a useful signal, but it works best alongside other checks. Use the lessons from the OpenSea and LooksRare rivalry to judge any venue, whether it is a general marketplace or one focused on a specific niche.

First, ask whether the platform's activity continues after incentives shrink. Second, check whether it supports the assets you care about, on the chains you use. Third, read its fee and royalty rules, since those affect what you pay and what creators receive.

Fourth, look at whether it is widely supported by other tools, such as aggregators and wallets, because visibility affects how easily you can buy or sell. Finally, consider your own time horizon. Short-term traders and long-term collectors have different needs, and a venue that suits one may not suit the other.

None of this is financial advice. NFT prices can fall sharply, and past activity does not guarantee future liquidity. Keep your exposure small and review your positions regularly.