Journalist
Hassan Shittu
Journalist
Hassan Shittu
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OpenSea, once the face of the NFT boom, has undergone a dramatic transformation as the sector sees trading volumes collapse by more than 90% from their 2021 highs.
The NFT marketplace has rebranded itself as a multi-chain crypto trading aggregator, expanding beyond digital collectibles into the wider world of token trading.
Under CEO Devin Finzer, OpenSea has pivoted toward becoming a “trade-any-crypto” platform that now supports 22 blockchains.
The shift follows one of the sharpest declines in the NFT sector’s history, a market that once reached a $20 billion capitalization in early 2022 before plunging to roughly $4.87 billion by October 2025, according to CoinGecko.
Finzer said the shift toward crypto aggregation is both a survival strategy and a bet on where the industry is headed. “You can’t fight the macro trend,” he said. “People want to trade everything—not just digital art.”
The new business model aggregates buy and sell orders from decentralized exchanges such as Uniswap and Meteora, generating around $16 million in revenue over the same period through a 0.9% transaction fee.
According to him, OpenSea does not perform know-your-customer checks, arguing that they are incompatible with its non-custodial model, though it uses blockchain analytics to flag suspicious transactions.
The platform’s evolution into a multi-asset aggregator reflects a wider trend among former NFT-focused firms adapting to the changing crypto economy.
Earlier this year, Solana-based marketplace Magic Eden acquired trading platform Slingshot to expand beyond NFTs.
OpenSea’s Trading Volume Hits 3-Year High as Platform Reinvents Itself
At the height of the NFT frenzy in January 2022, OpenSea generated $125 million in monthly revenue and was valued at $13.3 billion, making it one of the most valuable startups in crypto.
But by late 2023, as interest in digital collectibles evaporated, its monthly revenue had fallen to just $3 million. The company was forced to lay off more than half of its staff, shrinking from about 175 employees to around 60 today.
The downturn was accelerated by competition from rival marketplace Blur, which captured traders with zero fees and no royalties for creators.
OpenSea’s response, loosening its own royalty structure, backfired, sparking backlash from artists and collectors who accused the company of abandoning its roots.
Facing dwindling market share and financial strain, Finzer initiated a major reset. The company has since relocated its headquarters to Miami, with most staff working remotely.
Additionally, in the first two weeks of October 2025, the company handled $1.6 billion in crypto trades and $230 million in NFT transactions, its biggest month in more than three years.
Also, in an X post, Finzer noted that OpenSea saw massive demand with about $2.6 billion in trading volume this month, with over 90% from token trading.
OpenSea Prepares Token Launch, Eyes Recovery After NFT Market Collapse
OpenSea’s resurgence comes amid shifting investor appetite across the digital asset space. While Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have rallied, NFT trading remains a fraction of what it once was.
Blue-chip collections such as Bored Ape Yacht Club have seen floor prices tumble from around $400,000 at their peak to about $32,000.
Blur, the platform that once dethroned OpenSea, has also seen its activity collapse, from over $1 billion in monthly volume in early 2023 to just $92 million last month, according to DappRadar.
Despite the slump, the NFT market has shown intermittent signs of recovery in 2025.
DappRadar reported that July saw NFT market capitalization rise 94% to $6.6 billion, driven by renewed interest in blue-chip assets like CryptoPunks and Pudgy Penguins.
CryptoPunks alone saw a 53% floor price increase, while Pudgy Penguins overtook Bored Ape Yacht Club by market cap.
Even so, trading volumes remain volatile. After a resurgence in mid-2025, NFT sales have slowed again, with daily volumes hovering around $8 million, according to CoinGecko.
Base, Coinbase’s Layer-2 network, now dominates NFT activity, accounting for more than half of total transactions across blockchains, followed by Ethereum, Polygon, and Solana.
OpenSea’s “2.0” vision includes plans for a mobile app and an independent foundation that will issue an OpenSea token.
Finzer says the goal is to make trading as intuitive as Robinhood but fully self-custodial, allowing users to maintain control of their assets across chains.
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