OpenSea is a trading platform for non-fungible tokens. 

It was founded on December 20, 2017, by Devin Finzer and Alex Atallah in New York City. OpenSea platform allows you to sell, buy and create your own NFT tokens. 

The platform operates on the principles of a decentralized community: cryptocurrency wallets, addresses and assets are controlled by users. The marketplace protocol supports Ethereum, Polygon and Klaytn Blockchain. The trading volume of NFTs increased 400-fold in 2021. 

A record number of transactions (more than $12.5 billion) were made through the NFT OpenSea Marketplace.

OpenSea online platform

OpenSea is an online platform that deals with the trading of digital assets, including NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens), and provides users with the ability to buy, sell, and participate in auctions on the platform.

OpenSea offers a wide range of NFTs, including digital artworks, collectible cards, virtual lands, and much more. The platform enables users to create and list their own NFTs and also engage in auctions and trading with other participants.

In 2021, OpenSea received significant attention and investments from well-known venture capital funds and investors. The company secured significant investment in its Series B funding round, resulting in a valuation of several billion dollars.

OpenSea continues to evolve and innovate in the field of blockchain technology and NFTs. The team actively works on expanding the platform's functionality, enhancing the user experience, and building partnerships with various artists, content creators, and brands.

The founders of OpenSea are focused on the company's development and the growth of the global NFT market. Their goal is to create a convenient and accessible platform for trading and exchanging digital assets, contributing to the growth and advancement of the NFT industry.

Why is the OpenSea platform so popular?

• The diversity of NFTs: OpenSea offers a wide selection of various digital assets, such as art, collectibles, virtual lands, and more. This attracts different categories of users.
• Initial advantage: OpenSea was one of the first platforms for NFT trading, which helped it become a leader in this field and attract a large number of users.
• Ease of use: The OpenSea platform has a simple and intuitive interface, making NFT trading accessible for everyone, including beginners.
• Trust and security: OpenSea has a good reputation and has received support from renowned investors. It also ensures the security and protection of users' interests.
• Community support: OpenSea is the largest NFT trading platform and has a large user base and community of artists.

History of success

The founders of OpenSea achieved instant success. OpenSea was created in 2017 by two friends, Devin Finzer and Alex Atallah. Interestingly, their project had a different name (Wificoin) and operated in a completely different sphere. Users could earn tokens by providing access to their Wi-Fi networks. These earned coins could then be used to connect to other participants' networks.

The promising project became a part of the Y Combinator business accelerator. However, the market saw the emergence of the first successful NFT project, CryptoKitties, a popular blockchain game that laid the foundation for the future success of the NFT industry. In CryptoKitties, users could breed and raise new pet cats represented as ERC-721 NFT tokens. This eventually became the standard for many projects.

At this time, the relatively new NFT industry was beginning to expand, and Finzer and Atallah recognised its potential. After some consideration, they decided to completely reformat the Wificoin project and focus their attention on the NFT market.

As time has shown, Finzer and Atallah made one of the best decisions of their careers. Having said this, success was not guaranteed as many entrepreneurs began flooding the booming NFT market, including Rare Bits, which started its development at the same time.

OpenSea immediately set a global goal to create the most efficient service for buying and selling tokenized objects. Illustrating the competition: both teams referred to their developments as the "new eBay for crypto goods."

Initially, Rare Bits was able to attract more investor interest, securing $6 million in venture capital, while OpenSea had only $2 million in investments.

Despite similar objectives, the business models of the two teams differed significantly:

Rare Bits aimed to provide users with the widest range of gaming NFTs. Some transactions on the platform had no fees, and users' costs for transaction fees on the Ethereum network were compensated.

On the other hand, OpenSea focused on developing functionality without attempting to sell every NFT available. The platform also implemented a 1% transaction fee on trades made through the platform. This approach allowed OpenSea to survive during the global downturn in the cryptocurrency market that occurred in 2018. Competitors were unable to diversify their costs, and by 2019, Rare Bits ceased to exist.

At that time, Devin Finzer commented on the victory over the competitor:

“We were able to outperform Rare Bits because we thought long-term from the very beginning, not paying attention to short-term trends. We wanted to build a full-fledged decentralized NFT marketplace, and then dream of scaling the business.”

The NFT boom that unfolded throughout 2021 helped OpenSea become the first unicorn company in the emerging market. In March 2020, the platform generated around $30,000 per month from fees, but just a year later, the numbers were in the millions of dollars. During the summer of 2020, analysts at Andreessen Horowitz valued OpenSea at $1.5 billion, and in January, after closing an investment round with $300 million, the company's valuation exceeded $13.3 billion.

Competitors

1. Nifty Gateway - This platform focuses on attracting well-known artists and brands to create and sell NFTs. They also offer an intuitive interface and tools for buying and selling digital assets.

2. SuperRare - SuperRare is a platform specializing in trading exclusive and high-quality NFTs created by artists. It aims to attract collectors and investors interested in unique and limited edition NFTs.

3. Rarible - Rarible is another popular platform for creating, selling, and purchasing NFTs. It also operates on the Ethereum blockchain and offers various tools for creating and acquiring unique digital assets.

4. Foundation - Foundation is a platform for creative individuals where they can create, sell, and buy their own NFTs. The platform primarily focuses on art and design and aims to provide artists with an opportunity to distribute their work and interact with their fans.

5. Mintable - Mintable is another platform that allows users to create, sell, and buy digital assets on the Ethereum blockchain. They also offer additional features, such as the ability to add interactive elements to NFTs.

OpenSea's strengths

• Ease of creating and listing new tokens. Simply register an account and upload a file to get started.
• Wide selection of assets divided into 8 categories: collectible tokens, art, music, virtual worlds, domain names, sports, cards, and utilities.
• Convenient tool for finding the rarest NFTs. Just select a collection and apply filters based on keywords. For example, for CryptoPunks, keywords could include "cigarette," "red hair," "green skin," and more.

How did the crypto winter affect OpenSea's work?

According to CoinGecko, 2022 was one of the worst years in the history of the cryptocurrency market, and this trend affected the trading of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

As analyzed by The Block, in June 2022, the total trading volume of NFTs decreased by 74%, reaching $1.04 billion, representing a significant drop compared to $4 billion in May 2021. The analytical platform Dune reported an even lower figure for the same period, with only $0.5 billion in trading volume.

However, The Block's data showed that two-thirds of the total transaction volume is accounted for by OpenSea, which allowed it to maintain its leading position as a trading platform in the NFT market.

As a result of the decline in activity, the project's team announced a 20% reduction in staff in July 2022.

OpenSea actively seeks feedback from users and strives to address any identified shortcomings promptly, and continuously works on its development and improvement. 

Features of venture investments

• The average duration of an investor's stay in a project is about five years. This period is unpredictable and cannot be predetermined.
• You can invest in a deal at any time as long as it is available on the Marketplace and is not Sold Out.
• An 'exit' from a transaction is possible only after the company's shares are listed on the stock exchange for trading.
• Venture investments are generally high-risk, but also highly profitable if the shares are successfully listed on the stock exchange.