Opensea has been the top-dog NFT marketplace for buying, selling, and creating digital assets since NFTs really took off in early 2021. Although there are other NFT marketplaces, most haven't even come close to the trading volume experienced on Opensea in 2021.
That's not to say that there aren't other NFT marketplaces that aren't trying to take a cut of Opensea's profits though. In fact, LooksRare is one of these marketplaces.
LooksRare is a community-first NFT marketplace that actively rewards all users of the platform. Whether you’re a creator, collector, or trader, you are eligible to earn LOOKS tokens. Ultimately, the aim of the LooksRare platform is to give back to users and creators of the platform.
As well, LooksRare’s smart contracts are built within a modular framework that allows new features to be implemented over time. This is all done without compromising security thanks to standardized signatures that transparently define the plan of execution.
What this means is that LooksRare can offer users new features at any point in time. Here are some of the features that they plan to implement soon:
The team at LooksRare has designed the technical framework (contracts, database, API, front end, and search function) from the ground up to optimize scalability, speed, and security. Furthermore, LooksRare has also made sure to preserve compatibility for deploying on ETH scaling solutions in the future.
LooksRare collects a sales fee of 2% (in WETH) on all NFT sales except for private sales. All WETH collected from the sales fees are then combined at the end of each 6,500 Ethereum block period (approximately 24 hours) and then dispensed to LOOKS stakers per block over the next 6,500 block span.
You can claim your WETH rewards as often as you want, however, be aware that you will need to pay gas fees every time you claim your rewards.
If you forget to claim your WETH or you would rather wait until gas fees are lower before claiming, that’s fine. As long as your LOOKS tokens remain staked your WETH will continue to accumulate even if you don’t claim every day.
The primary distinction between active and passive staking is that LOOKS in passive staking do not earn extra LOOKS when staked.
The rewards for each day are calculated at the end of each previous period and then split between active and passive stakers before being dispursed. Passive stakers do not earn additional LOOKS while staked. However, Active stakers LOOKS tokens are fully unlocked.
The majority of stakers are active stakers, whose staked LOOKS tokens are completely unlocked.
Passive stakers are holders of LOOKS tokens that are locked for trade but unlocked for staking, such as Team, Treasury, and Strategic sale tokens.
For each 6,500 block period, the amount of WETH rewards to be distributed in each block to active stakers is calculated by the total WETH collected as fees in the prior 6500 block period, divided by 6,500.
The overall number of WETH rewards obtained is calculated by comparing each user's staked LOOKS at each block to the total amount of LOOKS staked at each block over the course of the 6,500 block period.
For an example, check out the LooksRare docs.
LooksRare allows you to trade qualifying NFTs and earn LOOKS simply by trading NFTs. Trading incentives are an important aspect of LooksRare's token economy as they aim to become the world's most liquid marketplace for NFTs.
Users who trade NFTs from qualified collections get trading incentives in the form of LOOKS tokens, the platform’s currency. For their trade volume, both the buyer and seller of an item gain incentives (except for private sales).
Trading rewards are computed daily and distributed to users two hours after the day's finish. The whole schedule of trade reward emissions will be over 4,686,250 Ethereum blocks (or about 721 days at a rate of 6,500 blocks per day), after which all LOOKS token releases will cease as the ecosystem becomes completely self-sufficient.
Please visit the LooksRare website to learn more about how many LOOKS tokens are allocated for trading rewards.
Trading rewards are determined every day based on each user's trading volume in eligible collections as a proportion of overall platform transaction volume in qualifying collections.
Every day at 2:00 a.m. (UTC), trading rewards are available to claim. Each day, between 0:00 AM and 2:00 AM (UTC), claiming is paused for two hours while trade rewards are processed. Every day at 2:00 a.m. (UTC), you may collect your prizes on the Rewards page.
The only collections that are eligible for trading rewards are any collection that reaches at least 1,000 ETH trading volume and will be automatically added to the list of collections eligible for the trading rewards. Once a collection reaches 1,000 ETH in trading volume, rewards will begin to be processed from sales completed after 0:00 AM (UTC) the next day.
Staking LOOKS means you earn extra LOOKS on top of the WETH trading fee incentives. Staked LOOKS tokens are automatically compounded for users who simply want to leave their LOOKS tokens staked.
Users are asked to manually stake pending rewards in order to maximize their portion of staked tokens. This, however, wastes both gas and opportunity costs. As a result, LooksRare has enabled auto-compounding for all LOOKS users.
This implies that LOOKS rewards received from the staked LOOKS balance are immediately re-staked (or compounded) into the pool to raise the number of LOOKS staked. Once users unstake their LOOKS tokens, both the compounded rewards and the initial staked amount are withdrawn to the user's wallet.
The LOOKS token airdrop is an attempt to take some of the attention away from the most popular NFT marketplace, Opensea. If you’ve traded 3 ETH or more on Opensea between June 16, 2021, to December 16, 2021, then you’re eligible to claim the LOOKS token airdrop.
The LOOKS token is LookRare’s native currency. You can choose to either stake your LOOKS token or swap them for a different cryptocurrency of your choice.
Keep in mind that all of the trading fees are earned by LOOKS token stakers, so the more people who transact on LooksRare, the more WETH that can be earned.
Claiming you LOOKS tokens is super simple. Follow these steps to claim your LOOKS token airdrop:
It’s literally that easy. Although claiming your LOOKS tokens is considered safe, always be sure to disconnect your wallet from the site once you are done. To do this, click on your wallet avatar in the upper right corner, scroll down, and choose Disconnect.
Opensea has been the leading NFT marketplace since NFTs bein to grow popular in early 2020. However, some users of the NFT marketplace are not satisfied with their services or what they offer users.
That’s why LooksRare has created its own community-based NFT marketplace that actually gives back to the users and creators who choose to use its platform.
If you’re looking to explore a new marketplace and want to earn rewards for doing so, then LooksRare may be worth giving a shot. At the very least, you may want to list an NFT for sale solely to claim the LOOKS tokens if you’re eligible.
