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- 1 OpenSea is currently the biggest NFT marketplace globally.
- 2 The NFT sector has gone stagnant, the report suggests.
Non-fungible token (NFT) platform OpenSea is bidding goodbye to half of its workforce following another layoff round. Devin Finzer, the company CEO, confirmed the news on X (formerly Twitter). A crypto news outlet also confirmed the news. The organization is reportedly cutting 50 percent of its staff.
OpenSea 2.0 on The Way
Devin Finzer explains in an X thread that, “We’re building a new foundation so we can innovate faster and we’ll have some experiences to share with you soon. We will change how we operate – shifting to a smaller team with a direct connection to users. So today, we’re saying goodbye to a number of OpenSea teammates.”
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— Devin Finzer (dfinzer.eth) (@dfinzer) November 3, 2023
OpenSea is making some big changes today to focus on the next version of our product.
A new development mentioned in the post indicates a potential upgrade which the CEO labeled as “OpenSea 2.0.” Finzer notes the platform, at times, felt like a follower rather than a leader. The update is unlikely to affect any of the existing products.
One of OpenSea’s spokesperson further said the company will deliver severance pay for four months, healthcare services, and an accelerated timetable for equity vesting to its laid-off staff. The NFT platform let go 20 percent of its workforce in July 2022. The platform was valued at $13.3 Billion in January of the same year.
The platform has dominated the NFT market for a better part since its inception. However, it began losing steam last year owing to the surfacing of creator royalties. Blur, a non-fungible token marketplace, erupted to give head-on competition to OpenSea, galloping nearly 65 percent market share in June 2023.
In 2021, trading volume for non-fungible tokens peaked at $17 Billion. However, the sector was eventually hit by crypto winter made stronger by the meteoric crash of ecosystems including Terra and FTX. The impact of the former has been contained while the latter is still visible.
Recent research indicates the NFT market has gone stagnant. Based on the study of over 73 thousand collections, dappGambl, an online gambling platform, asserts that nearly 70 thousand of them have a market cap of zero Ethereum (ETH). It suggests a “need for careful due diligence” while dealing with non-fungible tokens.
The report writes, “This daunting reality should serve as a sobering check on the euphoria that has often surrounded the NFT space. Amid stories of digital art pieces selling for millions and overnight success stories, it is easy to overlook the fact that the market is fraught with pitfalls and potential losses.”
American news website TechCrunch notes tech layoffs have doubled in 2023 in contrast to the previous year. The running total according to data aggregator Layoffs.fyi has reached over 200K. January alone saw companies cutting nearly 90K employees.
The layoffs are driven by tech industry leaders including Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Zoom, and more. As companies adjust to the market conditions, more companies could pink-slip employees from their workforce.
Anurag is working as a fundamental writer for The Coin Republic since 2021. He likes to exercise his curious muscles and research deep into a topic. Though he covers various aspects of the crypto industry, he is quite passionate about the Web3, NFTs, Gaming, and Metaverse, and envisions them as the future of the (digital) economy. A reader & writer at heart, he calls himself an “average guitar player” and a fun footballer.
