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NFT marketplace OpenSea is pushing back against the reports of the company planning its initial public offering (IPO), which would mean no token for its early adopters, much like the leading US cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, which went public in April this year, nine years after being co-founded by CEO Brian Armstrong. Brian Roberts, who joined OpenSea as its CFO this week said,
“Let me set the record straight: there is a big gap between thinking about what an IPO might eventually look like & actively planning one. We are not planning an IPO, and if we ever did, we would look to involve the community.”
The former Lyft executive who previously also worked at Microsoft and Walmart said in an interview with Bloomberg this week that he’s already planning an OpenSea IPO. Roberts is known for guiding his former company to a successful IPO.
“When you have a company growing as fast as this one, you'd be foolish not to think about it going public,” he said. It "would be well-received in the public market given its growth.”
Roberts’ u-turn came after the crypto community voiced against the company's plans for an IPO and taking the traditional finance route instead of rewarding its users much like other crypto projects such as DEX Uniswap. “Pressure from users will reach a tipping point for consumer-facing companies. the moment the IPO rumors start, users will push these platforms to do retroactive token airdrops instead,” commented Raj Gokal, co-founder of Solana Labs.
“Arcane accreditation and securities laws in the US will be tested as Americans face exclusion.”
OpenSea has already raised $100 million at a $1.5 billion valuation in a Series B led by VC giant Andreessen Horowitz and is now talking to more investors about raising additional funds that could increase its valuation to over $12 billion. “I've seen a lot of P&Ls, but I've never seen a P&L like this,” Roberts said at the time, adding that while OpenSea doesn’t need to raise more cash, the fresh capital will help it acquire companies and create partnerships and joint ventures.