In a sea of NFT marketplaces, it is hard for a user to choose the right one. Each one has a unique set of features which can be the differentiating factor when looking to achieve your goals. Many want to trade and earn a profit, while others may want to accumulate key assets strategically while playing Metaverse games.
Cyan has built a NFT marketplace fit for all users, be it those who wish to collect and trade digital assets or those who wish to retain the full utility and benefits of their assets.
With this article, let’s explore how Cyan can help achieve your goals!
Table of Contents
Uniqueness
In our article, What is an NFT Marketplace, we covered the various marketplaces available for NFTs. Cyan fits in into a niche category specific to NFT loans, but also overlaps somewhat with mass NFT marketplaces in the ability to purchase NFTs outright. Below is a summarised table of features compared to OpenSea:
| Features | Cyan | OpenSea |
| Ability to buy NFTs | Yes | Yes |
| Buy Now, Pay Later | Yes | No |
| NFT-backed loans | Yes | No |
| Number of collections available | 118 | 300+ (includes private collections) |
| Polygon support | Yes | Yes |
| Aggregator of other marketplaces | Yes | No |
| Royalties enforced | Mixed | Yes |
| Trading fees | 0% | 2.50% |
For a diverse offering of collections and a user-friendly interface for exploring collections, OpenSea is a great marketplace. Liquidity is still decently high given it has been one of the largest marketplaces in the industry for years. Many still refer to OpenSea’s floor price as the main source of pricing, which is a way to see the cheapest available NFT in a particular collection. OpenSea also supports many blockchains, including Polygon, making it a great destination for new projects looking to launch on Layer-2.
Cyan’s major differentiator to OpenSea is in its ability to help finance the purchase of an NFT. The mission of Cyan from day one has been to make NFTs accessible to anyone, regardless of price or liquidity. Cyan’s Buy Now, Pay Later feature allows a user to place a modest downpayment, usually 25%, and finance the rest through a loan over some time. The shortest loan period is 14 days, while the longest available for Blue-Chip collections is six months.
Our Accountability
As NFTs live on the blockchain, protocols must be secure to ensure no user loses their assets. For the most part, most well-known NFT marketplaces have gone through extensive audits and have been around for years, adding a level of trust. In this regard, Cyan has been operating for close to two years without incident. OpenSea was first launched in 2017-2018 and has been operational for close to six years now so it has built up an earned level of trust.
Another layer of accountability is knowing who is building the marketplaces. OpenSea is considered a Silicon Valley company and has publicly shared its investors, executive team, and company domicile. They are backed by a strong set of investors, including YCombinator, a16z, and Coatue. The company is led by Devin Finzer, who has overseen the company from day one.
Cyan has similarly shared the list of investors and has publicly shared the profiles of team members. Cyan is backed by prominent investors including OpenSea, Animoca, and Gumi Cryptos. The company is led by Mikio and Naba, who have extensive experience in the traditional web and financial industries. The team hails from Citigroup, Google, Toyota, and other well-known multinational companies.
In addition to the points above, we have gone through extensive audits to ensure the protocol is safe to use. Below is a table of audits:
| Auditor | Type | Date | Status | Report Link |
| Hadrien (independent) | EVM | March 2022 | Completed | Hadrien Cyan Review |
| CertiK | EVM | April 2022 | Completed | Cyan – Audit 1 |
| InfoSec | Dapp | April 2022 | Completed | InfoSec Cyan Final Report |
| CertiK | EVM | June 2022 | Completed | Cyan – Audit 2 |
| Qckhp (independent) | EVM | March 2023 | Completed | Qckhp Bug Report V2 |
| Dulguun (independent) | EVM | April 2023 | Completed | Dulguun Cyan V2 Final |
| 0xQuit | EVM | June 2023 | Completed | Cyan Contract Review_0xQuit |
| Qckhp (independent) | ApeStake | September 2023 | Completed | Qckhp ApeStake Report |
| Dulguun (independent) | ApeStake | September 2023 | Completed | Dulguun ApeStake Report |
CYAN’s Easy to Use Interface
Most marketplaces now have a similar user interface and will look familiar once you get accustomed to trading a few times. Given that OpenSea was very early in the NFT marketplace industry, many other protocols have emulated the look and feel. We have gone one step further, with a focus on how fewer clicks can get the job done.
The Borrow page is very straightforward, allowing you to take out loans against NFTs you already own. This is very easy to utilize when you need a bit of liquidity to buy more NFTs, or you would like to diversify your portfolio risk. Cyan’s peer-to-protocol method of NFT loans means you don’t have to wait for a loan. Everything is instant and transparent from the start so there are no surprises later on in the loan.
For those who wish to provide capital for NFT loans to collect a yield, the Lend page is the perfect place to start. We categorize NFTs into different vaults, so as a lender you can choose which risk profile fits you best. Naturally, for higher-risk collections, yields on loans will be higher. Choose the Cyan Vault that fits your goals!
As a user of Cyan, navigating your assets is quite easy with the Account page. Here, you can quickly look through assets you already own, and simultaneously see those assets which are on loans. The biggest benefit to having loans on Cyan is the ability to have full access to the NFTs while paying them off. Cyan Wallet works seamlessly with Wallet Connect, so you can connect to any dapp and start using your NFT to claim airdrops, buy tickets, access Metaverses, and more.
Cyan prides itself on simplifying the interface to make it easy for anyone to figure out on the first visit. There are advanced features that cater to NFT veterans, such as Apecoin staking.
Easy Access to Customer Support
This is an area we excel in comparison to other marketplaces, including most high volume ones like OpenSea. Cyan boasts an average ticket response time of under 15 minutes and has a 100% success rate so far in handling customer tickets. While Cyan has a smaller team in comparison to other marketplaces, customer support is an area where emphasis is placed on differentiating ourselves from the rest.
Cyan’s target level of customer support is that of Apple. The focus is to keep the product interface as simple as possible so users don’t have to reach out to figure out features. For those with issues beyond usability, our team is available 24/7, including holidays. Cyan has a strong belief that developers of the product also attend to customer inquiries, to learn firsthand what the issues are and where to iterate.
Other marketplaces make it difficult to find a contact and obfuscate support through chatbots and FAQs. OpenSea support is usually only available through email, while Cyan has support through email, Discord, Telegram, and calls. If you ever have an issue, don’t hesitate to chat with us in Discord or open a ticket at your convenience.