Development of NFT marketplaces

In recent years, the NFT industry has grown rapidly, transforming from a niche industry into a key segment of the digital economy. More and more companies, brands, and content creators are entering the non-fungible token market, creating unique collections and digital assets. This has driven growing demand for the development of NFT marketplaces - platforms where users can securely buy, sell, and trade NFTs.

An NFT is a digital token representing ownership of physical or virtual assets. Unlike cryptocurrency, it is non-fungible. This means no two NFTs are identical, and one token is not equal to another. Consequently, they cannot be used as a means of payment at retail or for trading on crypto exchanges. Instead, NFT marketplaces are used to buy and sell them.

Creating your own NFT marketplace opens up a wide range of business opportunities, from monetizing digital art and collections to integrating Web3 functionality into existing ecosystems. Professionally developed NFT platforms ensure reliability, scalability, and an engaging user experience, which is especially important in the face of growing competition and interest in blockchain technologies.

The CryptonisLabs team creates functional and secure platforms for buying, selling, and auctioning NFTs, featuring custom designs, blockchain integration (Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon, etc.), and a user-friendly interface. Our specialists ensure complete project implementation - from architecture and smart contracts to testing and launch.

What is an NFT marketplace?

An NFT marketplace is a blockchain trading platform that allows users to store, sell, and buy non-fungible tokens. Furthermore, this service allows users to create their own NFTs. To do this, special smart contracts add metadata to each new asset and specify all necessary parameters, including its name, non-divisibility, and blockchain address. These NFTs can then be listed for auction at a fixed price or auctioned.

To the client, an NFT marketplace looks like a regular online store, but from a technical perspective, it offers much more extensive and complex functionality. Here are the most important features to implement:

• Registration and authorization. To be able to buy and sell tokens, users need a personal account with a crypto wallet integration.
• Showcase. Provides users with all the information about the item: price, description, rating, purchasing methods, and more.
• Search and filter system. Functionality that allows users to quickly find the token or section they're interested in.
• Listing an item . The process of listing an NFT for sale should be quick and intuitive. This requires carefully considering the user journey.
• Transaction History. A separate section where users can view their NFT purchase and sale history.
• Ratings. Visualizes how popular marketplace users are with individual NFTs or sellers.
• Push notifications. These will help inform users about new items in selected sections, bid increases at auctions, and other important events.
• Support. Like any trading platform, an NFT marketplace should have a section where users can resolve any technical issues.

Development stages

Step 1: Data Collection and Analysis

First, the development team studies the client's requirements and conducts a market analysis. This is necessary to ensure the technical feasibility of the project before production begins.

In addition, at this stage you need to answer several fundamental questions:

• Who is the target audience of the project?
• How exactly will token trading be carried out?
• What functionality needs to be implemented?
• What is the platform's monetization model?
• Which token protocol will be used: ERC721, ERC1155, BEP-721 or BEP-1155?
• What blockchain will the project be built on?

Step 2. Technical documentation

Once all the necessary information has been collected, technical documentation for the project is developed. It outlines the requirements for the NFT marketplace, the technology stack to be used in production, the production plan, security parameters, and other important information. Based on this document, the project's cost and planned timeline are calculated.

Step 3. Design

At this stage, business analysts collaborate with designers to develop an effective user interface architecture, a logical navigation system, and mockups of individual pages, describing the functionality to be implemented. This creates a kind of framework for the marketplace, taking into account probable user journeys.

Step 4. Design

The appearance of an NFT marketplace plays a crucial role, as it forms a person's first impression of the project. Therefore, it's crucial that the design inspires trust, is user-friendly, and is easy to understand.

Step 5. Frontend development

The frontend is the external part of the trading platform that receives user requests, transmits them to the server for further processing, and displays the results in a user-friendly format. Furthermore, this part is responsible for the reliability and performance of the interface. A frontend developer's tech stack may vary depending on the specifics of the project, but the most commonly used technologies are:

• For the web – the JavaScript programming language and the React.JS and Vue.JS frameworks.
• For Android applications – Java, Kotlin and Flutter SDK.
• For iOS applications – Swift language and Flutter SDK.

Step 6. Backend and smart contracts

The most extensive stage of production, during which the platform's server-side component, responsible for the entire project's logic, is created. In addition to the core functionality, developers must program the blockchain, smart contracts, and crypto wallets, as well as implement a reliable auction mechanism.

Technology stack for implementing the backend part:

• Blockchain – Ethereum or Binance Smart Chain.
• Smart contracts – Ethereum Virtual Machine or BSC Virtual Machine.
• Programming languages – Python, Java, PHP.
• Frameworks – Django, Flask, Laravel, Yii.
• For mobile development, as in the front-end part, the languages Java and Kotlin for Android and Swift for iOS are used.

Step 7. Testing

After technical development is complete, it's necessary to ensure that the platform functions correctly and in accordance with the original plans. To do this, the project is transferred to the QA department, where it undergoes multi-level testing. If any errors are discovered, they are passed on to the responsible specialists for revision and then re-tested.

NFT Marketplace Development at CryptonisLabs

Developing functional NFT marketplaces and other high-load blockchain solutions is one of CryptonisLabs' core specializations.

To implement such projects, our company already has teams of specialists with experience working together, allowing us to guarantee high quality and speed of product implementation.