NFT Marketplace Business Model Explained

The NFT space has gone from a niche corner of the internet to a multi-billion-dollar industry in just a few years. But while most people talk about which NFTs are trending or who bought what for millions of dollars, very few stop to ask: how do the platforms behind all this trading actually make money?

Understanding the NFT marketplace business model is not just useful for builders and investors. It helps anyone who wants to buy, sell, or launch in this space to know exactly what they are walking into. From transaction fees to royalty splits, from freemium tiers to branded storefronts, and the broader range of NFT marketplace services that support creators and brands, the ways these platforms generate revenue are more layered than most people think.

This blog breaks down every part of the NFT marketplace revenue model in plain language. Whether you are a creator, a developer, or just someone curious about the business side of Web3, this guide covers everything you need to know.

What Is an NFT Marketplace and Why Does Its Business Model Matter?

An NFT marketplace is an online platform where people can create (mint), buy, sell, and trade non-fungible tokens. Think of it like an online auction house or a digital art gallery, except everything runs on a blockchain and ownership is tracked automatically through smart contracts.

Just like Amazon needs a business model to stay alive while connecting buyers and sellers, an NFT marketplace needs one too. Without a well-thought-out NFT marketplace profit model, these platforms cannot cover their costs, pay their teams, or keep improving the product.

The business model also tells you what kind of marketplace you are dealing with. A platform that charges high listing fees operates very differently from one that takes a small cut of each sale. A curated platform for high-end digital art has a completely different audience and cost structure compared to a gaming NFT platform, where thousands of items are traded every hour.

Getting this model right is what separates platforms that last from ones that burn out fast.

The NFT Market in Numbers: How Big Is This Industry?

Before diving into the business model itself, it helps to understand the size of the opportunity. The numbers here are not meant to hype you up, but to show you the scale of the transactions these platforms are built around.

As of October 2024, OpenSea, the largest NFT marketplace in the world, held 90 percent of all Ethereum-based NFT trading volume, with a total trading volume of approximately $14.68 billion. The platform had exceeded 1 million active buyers and sellers by March 2024, with around 250,000 people trading on it every month.

From 2022 to 2024, OpenSea facilitated a cumulative $23.14 billion in NFT trading volume, the highest of any platform. Blur, a marketplace focused on professional traders, followed with $8.54 billion in cumulative volume over the same period.

The NFT market generated approximately $683.9 million in revenue in 2024. Over 12,000 NFT sales occur every single day, with around 10,000 active wallets engaging with NFTs daily. In 2024, the NFT market had about 11.58 million users globally, a number expected to reach 11.64 million by 2025.

These numbers give context for why the NFT marketplace monetization question matters so much. Even a 2.5 percent cut of billions of dollars in trading volume adds up to a significant business.

The NFT Marketplace Business Model Canvas: 9 Building Blocks Explained

The NFT business model canvas is a structured way to understand how an NFT marketplace operates as a business. It breaks everything down into nine areas, grouped under four main categories: Offerings, Customers, Infrastructure, and Finances. Let us walk through each one clearly.

1. Value Proposition: What Does the Platform Offer?

The value proposition is the core of any business model. It answers a simple question: why would someone choose this platform over any other?

For NFT marketplaces, the value proposition is different for buyers and sellers. Buyers get access to a wide range of NFTs, easy discovery tools, and a trustworthy environment to make purchases. Sellers get an audience, tools to mint and list their work, and a chance to earn both from initial sales and future royalties.

OpenSea’s value proposition for buyers is a massive catalog with millions of NFTs across different categories and blockchains. For sellers, it offers free listings with no upfront cost and a platform where their work is visible to a large audience. The platform took on gas fees in certain situations, which meant sellers kept more of what they earned.

Other platforms differentiate themselves differently. SuperRare positions itself as a curated marketplace for high-quality digital art, which means sellers gain prestige and buyers get verified authenticity. Rarible gives users governance rights through its RARI token, which is a different kind of value for those who care about community ownership.

2. Customer Segments: Who Uses These Platforms?

NFT marketplaces serve several distinct groups of users, and the business model must work for all of them.

The main groups are creators (who mint and list NFTs), collectors and buyers (who purchase NFTs for ownership or investment), traders (who buy and resell for profit), and gaming users (who buy in-game items and characters). By October 2024, there were 28.22 million NFT holders, of which 5.48 million were active traders, 4.03 million were buyers, and 3.35 million were sellers.

The largest demographic interested in NFTs consists of people aged 18 to 24, making up 14 percent of interested users, followed by 25 to 34 year olds at 8 percent. Men are three times as likely as women to collect NFTs. Understanding these segments helps platforms decide which features to build and how to price their services.

3. Customer Channels: How Do Platforms Reach Users?

Most NFT marketplaces reach their users through their own websites and mobile apps. OpenSea has both Android and iOS apps, alongside its web platform. Rarible uses social media channels heavily to attract new creators and collectors.

Beyond their own properties, platforms rely on crypto forums, influencer partnerships, NFT Twitter (now X), Discord communities, and word of mouth within collector groups. Paid marketing is less common in this space because the community-driven nature of NFTs means organic growth tends to be more powerful when the product is strong.

4. Customer Relationships: How Do Platforms Keep Users Coming Back?

Customer relationships in the NFT space are built through community engagement, responsive support, and platform governance. OpenSea maintains active customer service and regularly communicates updates on social media. Rarible lets its community vote on platform changes through RARI token governance, which builds loyalty by giving users real ownership over decisions.

Gaming-focused platforms like Axie Infinity build relationships through gameplay mechanics and ongoing rewards. The relationship between the platform and its users is often more community-like than transactional, which is quite different from traditional e-commerce.

Infrastructure: The Engine Running Behind the Scenes

The infrastructure of an NFT marketplace covers everything needed to keep the platform running. This includes key partners, key activities, and key resources. Without these, no amount of marketing or smart revenue strategy can keep the platform alive.

5. Key Resources: What Assets Does the Platform Need?

The most important resources for an NFT marketplace include its blockchain infrastructure, its smart contracts, its team of developers, and its user data. Smart contracts are central to everything because they automate the transfer of ownership, handle payments, distribute royalties, and record every transaction permanently on the blockchain.

Ethereum powers approximately 62 percent of NFT transactions. However, alternatives like Solana, Binance Smart Chain, and Cardano have gained ground because they offer lower fees and faster processing. A marketplace that only works on Ethereum will lose users to platforms that support multiple chains. This is why multi-chain support has become a key resource for modern NFT marketplaces.

Storage is another resource issue. NFT metadata and media files are often stored on decentralized systems like IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) rather than traditional cloud servers, which aligns with the decentralized nature of blockchain but adds technical complexity.

6. Key Activities: What Does the Platform Actually Do Day to Day?

The day-to-day operations of an NFT marketplace include maintaining smart contracts, processing transactions, handling wallet integrations, moderating listings to prevent fraud, running customer support, developing new features, and keeping the platform secure.

Security is a major ongoing activity. Between July 2021 and July 2022, over $100 million worth of NFTs were stolen due to scams, with scammers averaging around $300,000 per incident. July 2022 saw the highest number of NFT thefts, with more than 4,600 NFTs stolen in a single month. This means security monitoring and fraud prevention are not optional; they are constant necessities.

7. Key Partners: Who Do These Platforms Rely On?

NFT marketplaces depend on several external partners to function. Blockchain networks like Ethereum, Solana, and Polygon are foundational partners. Crypto wallet providers like MetaMask, Coinbase Wallet, and Phantom (on Solana) allow users to connect to the platform and complete transactions. Decentralized storage networks like IPFS or Arweave store the actual media files linked to NFTs.

On the business side, partnerships with artists, brands, and gaming companies bring exclusive content to the platform and attract new users. NBA Top Shot, for example, is a partnership between Dapper Labs and the NBA that turned basketball highlights into tradable NFTs, generating $780 million in total trading volume.

How NFT Marketplaces Make Money: Revenue Streams Explained

This is the part that most articles gloss over. The NFT marketplace revenue model is actually built from several different income sources, not just one. Understanding each of them separately shows you just how well-designed (or poorly-designed) a platform’s monetization strategy is.

1. Transaction Fees (The Biggest Revenue Driver)

The most straightforward way platforms make money is by taking a percentage of every sale. This is the core of the NFT marketplace monetization strategy for most major platforms. When an NFT is bought or sold, the marketplace keeps a slice of the transaction value.

OpenSea charges a 2.5 percent transaction fee on all sales. LooksRare and Magic Eden both charge around 2 percent. X2Y2 charges just 0.5 percent, which it used to undercut competition and attract high-volume traders. SuperRare and Foundation, being curated art platforms, charge a 15 percent commission on sales because they offer higher exposure and verification services.

The commission model is usually between 2 to 5 percent on every transaction for most platforms. When you multiply that by billions of dollars in trading volume, the math becomes very compelling. OpenSea alone handled over $14.68 billion in trading volume in 2024, which at a 2.5 percent fee rate translates to hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.

2. Listing Fees

Some platforms charge creators a fee just to list their NFT for sale on the platform, regardless of whether it sells. This provides predictable upfront revenue. OpenSea does not charge listing fees, which is part of why it attracted so many creators. Rarible has charged specific costs associated with creating and listing NFTs in certain situations.

Listing fees are less popular today because zero-fee listing is now expected in competitive segments of the market. However, premium listing placements, where a creator pays to have their NFT featured or shown at the top of search results, still function as a version of this model.

3. Minting Fees

Minting an NFT means recording it on the blockchain for the first time. Some platforms charge a minting fee that covers the cost of this on-chain recording. On Ethereum, typical minting costs during low congestion periods range from $50 to $150. During high traffic periods, these fees can surge to $500 or more.

Many platforms now offer “lazy minting,” where the NFT is not actually recorded on the blockchain until someone buys it. This shifts the gas cost to the buyer and lowers the barrier for creators. Platforms using lazy minting can still collect a fee on the final sale rather than upfront.

Layer-2 solutions and alternative blockchains have brought minting and trading costs down significantly. On Polygon, average gas fees are around $0.003. On Cardano, they average around $0.17. This cost reduction has opened up the market to smaller creators who could not justify paying $100 or more in gas fees on Ethereum.

4. Royalties on Secondary Sales

One of the most exciting parts of the NFT ecosystem is the royalty model. When an NFT is resold on the secondary market, the original creator can automatically receive a percentage of that sale price. This is handled by smart contracts and requires no manual action from anyone.

Royalty fees are commonly set between 5 and 10 percent of the sale price, though platforms like Rarible support up to 50 percent on secondary sales. Over 63 percent of NFT creators report earning more from secondary sale royalties than from their initial mint sales, according to data from Coinlaw.io. Around 428 top NFT collections account for roughly 80 percent of all royalty revenue paid out to creators.

Some marketplaces keep a portion of the royalty transaction as a processing fee, making secondary sales a revenue source not just for creators but for the platform itself.

However, this area has seen controversy. Optional royalty structures on platforms like Blur and OpenSea drove a 12 percent increase in buyer activity but cut creator royalty revenues by around 18 percent. The debate between protecting creators and attracting volume-driven traders is ongoing.

5. Advertisement and Promotion Fees

As with any marketplace, paid visibility is a revenue stream. NFT creators and collections can pay to have their listings featured prominently on the homepage, in search results, or in newsletters. This is sometimes called a “boost” or “promoted listing” feature.

By paying a nominal promotion fee, creators can reach more potential buyers and increase the chances of selling at a good price. For the platform, this is a predictable and scalable revenue source that does not depend on whether the promoted NFT actually sells.

6. Auction Fees

Many NFT marketplaces host timed auctions where buyers place competing bids. These auctions often carry a separate fee structure, with the platform taking a cut of the final auction price in addition to or instead of its standard transaction fee.

Auction mechanics also create urgency and excitement, which drives more activity on the platform. This is why platforms like Foundation and SuperRare rely heavily on auction-style sales. The $69.3 million Beeple sale and other record-setting NFT auctions were not just cultural moments; they were enormous revenue events for the platforms hosting them.

7. Subscription and Premium Membership Plans

Some NFT platforms offer subscription tiers that give users access to additional features. Premium members might get analytics dashboards, advanced search filters, bulk minting tools, lower fees, or early access to exclusive drops.

This freemium model works well because it lets casual users participate without any upfront cost, while heavy users who depend on the platform for their business are willing to pay for better tools. It also creates recurring revenue, which is more stable than transaction-based income alone.

8. White-Label and API Services

Some established NFT marketplace builders offer their technology to other companies as a white-label product. A brand or gaming company can license the platform’s infrastructure to launch its own NFT marketplace without building everything from scratch. The original platform earns licensing fees, revenue shares, or both.

Similarly, API access for developers who want to build apps on top of the marketplace’s data is a growing revenue area. This is particularly relevant for analytics tools, portfolio trackers, and trading bots.

NFT Marketplace Revenue Streams Compared

Revenue Stream	Who Pays	Typical Rate	Example Platform
Transaction Fee	Buyer or Seller	0.5% to 15% per sale	OpenSea (2.5%), SuperRare (15%)
Minting Fee	Creator	$0 to $150+ (gas-dependent)	Rarible, Foundation
Royalty on Secondary Sales	Resale Buyer	5% to 50% (creator-set)	Rare (up to 50%)
Listing / Promotion Fee	Creator / Seller	Fixed or Variable	Various curated platforms
Auction Fee	Winning Bidder	% of final bid price	Foundation, SuperRare
Subscription / Premium Tier	Power Users	Monthly recurring fee	Various platforms
White-Label / API License	Partner Brands	Custom licensing fee	Enterprise-focused platforms

The OpenSea Business Model: A Closer Look at the Market Leader

When people talk about the OpenSea business model, they are essentially studying the blueprint that most general-purpose NFT marketplaces have tried to copy or improve upon.

OpenSea was founded in 2017 and grew rapidly during the 2020 to 2022 NFT boom. Its model is built around being the most inclusive and wide-ranging marketplace, supporting the broadest range of NFTs, blockchains, and users. Here is how it has structured its business:

How OpenSea Makes Money

OpenSea’s primary revenue source is its 2.5 percent transaction fee on every completed sale. With $14.68 billion in trading volume in 2024, this fee structure generates substantial revenue without requiring any upfront charges from creators or buyers.

OpenSea does not charge listing fees, which removes a major barrier for creators. This decision helped it grow its catalog to over 80 million NFTs and attract over 1 million active users by March 2024. The trade-off is that revenue only flows when trades happen, making the business somewhat dependent on market activity levels.

OpenSea also earns from its creator earnings feature. When sales include royalties enforced by the collection’s smart contract, OpenSea processes those payments and has historically taken a processing share. The platform’s approach to optional versus enforced royalties has been a point of debate, particularly after rival Blur attracted professional traders by allowing royalty-optional trades.

OpenSea’s Challenges and Competitive Positioning

Despite its dominance, OpenSea has faced real pressure. Blur recorded roughly $135 million in 30-day trading volume in August 2025, targeting professional traders with advanced analytics tools and a zero-fee policy for a period. Blur commanded 68.8 percent market share on Ethereum from $2.43 billion YTD trading volume in one stretch, versus OpenSea’s $0.64 billion during the same period.

OpenSea responded with OpenSea 2 Beta, launching 14 new chains and native cross-chain purchasing. As of May 2025, OpenSea captured about 29.7 percent of the NFT market share with $69 million in monthly volume and 283,000 users. Magic Eden amassed $6.39 billion in cumulative trading volume and held a 37 percent market share at its 2024 peak on Solana-based NFTs.

This competition shows that even the dominant player in the NFT marketplace profit model space must keep evolving its model to stay relevant.

Types of NFT Marketplaces and Their Different Business Models

Not all NFT marketplaces operate the same way. The type of marketplace a platform is determines which revenue streams it prioritizes and how its cost structure looks.

1. Open Marketplaces

Open marketplaces like OpenSea allow anyone to mint and sell NFTs without going through an approval process. They make money primarily through transaction fees and benefit from high volume due to low barriers to entry. The risk is a lower average quality of listings and more potential for fraud.

2. Curated Art Platforms

Platforms like SuperRare and Foundation only accept vetted artists. They charge higher commissions (15 percent or more) but attract serious collectors willing to pay premium prices. The business model works on lower volume and higher per-transaction value.

3. Gaming NFT Platforms

Gaming NFTs represent a market valued at approximately $471.90 billion in 2024, with forecasts projecting growth to $942.58 billion by 2029. Platforms like Axie Infinity (valued at $3.94 billion) operate a play-to-earn model where in-game items are NFTs. Revenue comes from item sales, marketplace fees on trades, and sometimes from new game releases or expansions.

4. Niche or Category-Specific Platforms

Some platforms focus on specific asset types. NBA Top Shot focuses on basketball video highlights as NFTs and has generated $780 million in total trading volume. Decentraland and The Sandbox focus on virtual real estate NFTs. Virtual real estate NFTs are predicted to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 27.4 percent, with users able to buy, develop, and even rent out digital property within these platforms.

5. Event Ticketing NFT Platforms

A newer and rapidly growing category, event ticketing NFTs now represent 5.3 percent of ticket sales across major US venues in 2025. These platforms charge ticketing fees and secondary market fees when NFT tickets are resold. The key advantage here is fraud prevention, as blockchain-verified tickets cannot be duplicated.

Cost Structure: What Does It Cost to Build and Run an NFT Marketplace?

To understand the NFT marketplace profit model, you also need to understand the cost side of the equation. Building and operating a marketplace involves both one-time development costs and ongoing operational expenses.

NFT Marketplace Development Costs

Development Component	Cost Range	Key Considerations
Basic Platform Features	$30,000 to $50,000	User authentication, NFT minting, buying and selling functionality, basic wallet integration
Advanced Platform Features	$100,000 to $150,000+	Custom smart contracts, multi-chain support, advanced analytics, decentralized storage, royalty management
UI/UX Design	$5,000 to $20,000	Simple interface vs. custom-branded design with intricate elements
Blockchain Integration	$10,000 to $20,000	Ethereum is the most common; alternatives like Solana or BSC may vary in cost
Smart Contract Development	Included in platform costs	Token standards (ERC-721, ERC-1155), security audits, testing
Security Implementation	$5,000 to $15,000	Encryption, multi-factor authentication, and regular security audits
Ongoing Maintenance	$1,000 to $5,000 per month	Server hosting, updates, customer support, security monitoring

The key takeaway from this cost structure is that building an NFT marketplace is not cheap, but the ongoing operational costs are manageable relative to the revenue potential. A basic platform starts at $30,000 to $50,000, while an advanced platform with custom smart contracts, multi-chain support, and decentralized storage can reach $150,000 or more. Monthly maintenance adds $1,000 to $5,000 on top of that.

Smart Contracts: The Silent Engine of NFT Marketplace Revenue

You cannot talk about how NFT marketplaces make money without explaining smart contracts. These are self-executing programs stored on a blockchain that run automatically when certain conditions are met.

When someone buys an NFT on a marketplace, the smart contract handles everything. It transfers the cryptocurrency payment from the buyer, delivers the NFT to the buyer’s wallet, sends the creator’s royalty to the original artist, takes the platform’s transaction fee, and records everything permanently on the blockchain. All of this happens without any human involvement, often in seconds.

This automation is what makes the NFT marketplace revenue model so powerful. The platform does not need a team to process each transaction manually. Once the smart contract is deployed and working, it generates revenue at scale with minimal marginal cost per transaction.

The most common NFT token standards are ERC-721, which creates unique one-of-a-kind tokens, and ERC-1155, which allows both unique and limited-edition tokens within the same contract. These standards are what most Ethereum-based NFT marketplaces are built around.

The Role of Blockchain in the NFT Marketplace Business Model

The choice of blockchain is a fundamental business model decision, not just a technical one. It affects fees, transaction speeds, user demographics, and the types of NFTs that can be supported.

Ethereum remains the most established network for NFTs, powering approximately 62 percent of NFT transactions. Its large developer community and proven infrastructure make it the default choice for high-value art and collectibles. However, gas fees between $50 and $150 for minting during low-congestion periods (and up to $500 during high-demand periods) have pushed many creators toward alternatives.

Solana offers much lower fees, making it attractive for high-volume gaming NFTs and collections where buyers and sellers need to transact frequently. Magic Eden, built primarily on Solana, amassed $6.39 billion in cumulative trading volume and held a 37 percent market share at its 2024 peak. Polygon, a Layer-2 solution for Ethereum, brings average gas fees down to around $0.003 per transaction, making it viable for mainstream consumer applications.

For marketplace owners, the business model implication is clear: the blockchain you choose determines who your users can be and how much friction exists in every transaction. A marketplace with high fees will naturally attract fewer casual users and more serious collectors willing to pay for quality and prestige.

Security Challenges and Their Impact on the Business Model

Security is not just a technical issue for NFT marketplaces; it directly affects the business model. Platforms with poor security lose user trust, face regulatory scrutiny, and watch their volume drop as scared users move elsewhere.

Between 2017 and 2024, more than $8 million in illegal funds was laundered through NFT platforms. Between July 2021 and July 2022, over $100 million worth of NFTs were stolen due to scams, with scammers averaging around $300,000 per incident. July 2022 saw over 4,600 NFTs stolen in a single month.

Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency mixer, emerged as a tool for laundering proceeds from NFT scams, processing $137.6 million in crypto linked to NFT marketplaces before sanctions were imposed on it in August 2022.

For marketplace operators, security spending is not optional. Budget allocations of $5,000 to $15,000 for initial security implementation are standard, but ongoing security monitoring adds to the monthly cost base. Platforms that invest in real security and fraud detection earn user trust, which translates directly into higher trading volumes and better revenue.

Creator Economics: Why Royalties Are Central to the NFT Marketplace Model

One of the most meaningful differences between the NFT marketplace revenue model and traditional digital marketplaces is the royalty structure. In most traditional platforms, once a piece of digital content is sold, the creator gets nothing from future resales. NFTs change this entirely.

Smart contract royalties mean that every time an NFT changes hands on the secondary market, the original creator automatically receives a percentage of that transaction. Cumulative Ethereum royalties paid to creators have exceeded $1.8 billion. The average royalty fee is around 6.1 percent. Dynamic royalty models, which adjust the percentage based on sale price or other conditions, can increase creator earnings by up to 40 percent.

Over 63 percent of NFT creators report earning more from secondary sales than from their initial mint. This is a powerful incentive that keeps creators engaged with a platform long after their first sale. For marketplace operators, this matters because creators who earn ongoing royalties are more likely to stay loyal to the platform and bring their audiences with them.

However, the royalty debate has become a real business model tension. Platforms that make royalties optional in order to attract high-frequency traders see more trading volume but upset their creator communities. Platforms that enforce royalties keep creators happy but may lose volume to lower-fee competitors. This is one of the most active areas of business model differentiation in the NFT space today.

How Decentralized Governance Changes the NFT Business Model

One area that sets NFT marketplaces apart from traditional online marketplaces is the growing use of decentralized governance. Rarible introduced community governance through RARI tokens, allowing users to vote on platform decisions, including feature updates and fee changes. This represents a meaningful shift in how a marketplace is managed and who benefits from its success.

When users hold governance tokens, they are not just customers; they are part-owners of the platform. This changes their relationship with it. They are more likely to promote the platform, less likely to leave, and more invested in its long-term success. From a pure business model standpoint, it creates an unusual dynamic where the people who generate the platform’s revenue also have a say in how that revenue is used.

This model is still evolving. LooksRare returns trading fees to users who stake its token, which effectively shares platform revenue with active participants. This community-driven approach creates strong loyalty but requires careful balance to ensure the platform remains financially sustainable.

NFT Marketplace Business Model in Action: Real-World Implementations

The following projects reflect how NFT marketplace and blockchain business models are already being applied across gaming, digital ownership, and decentralized infrastructure. Each case demonstrates the same core principles discussed throughout this blog, from smart contract automation and token governance to multi-chain trading and community-driven growth.

Conclusion

The NFT marketplace business model is not a single formula. It is a combination of revenue streams, infrastructure choices, community decisions, and cost management that together determine whether a platform survives and grows or quietly fades away. The most successful platforms are those that have found the right balance between generating enough revenue to sustain operations, keeping fees low enough to attract volume, protecting creators through fair royalty policies, and building trust through strong security.

OpenSea grew to dominate the market by making it easy and cheap for anyone to participate, then earning a modest 2.5 percent on every transaction at a massive scale. Curated platforms like SuperRare and Foundation chose the opposite path, charging more but offering more selective quality. Gaming platforms like Axie Infinity built entire economies where NFTs are functional assets, not just collectibles. And newer platforms like Rarible and LooksRare have shown that sharing revenue and governance with users creates a different kind of loyalty that traditional business models cannot buy.

The NFT industry is still young. With $683.9 million in revenue generated in 2024 and over 12,000 NFT sales happening every day, the infrastructure for this market is still being built. The platforms that get their business models right today, ones that take care of creators, protect buyers, and stay ahead of security threats, will be the ones that shape what this space looks like a decade from now.

If you are considering building an NFT marketplace, the business model decisions you make at the start will shape everything that comes after. Take the time to understand your target users, choose the right blockchain, design a fee structure that rewards all participants fairly, and invest in security from day one. The market is large enough for many players. What it rewards most is good thinking at the foundation level.