u.today
Non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea is looking at reclaiming the luster it once lost in the face of growing competition. According to a BNNBloomberg report, OpenSea is now contemplating a mega-revamp through what the firm calls OpenSea2.0 in the first major news after a headcount reduction in November last year.
This move is essential as OpenSea’s market share has slowed considering the incentives accessible on alternative platforms that have made it less attractive to NFT collectors. In its new plans, OpenSea looks to redefine the use cases of NFTs on its platforms. For now, the firm notably lists all assets irrespective of their origin and use cases in the same way, but it plans to change this ultimately.
OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer is unfazed by the numbers being flashed, noting that the actual utility it plans to work on will be the game-changer in the long run.
"One of the things we've been most excited about is not necessarily how do you drive the most volume, but rather, how do you build sort of the most compelling use cases for NFTs," he said in an interview, adding that he and his team "tend to not focus too much on kind of the short-term, marketplace dynamics."
Focus shifting to Solana
As part of the new growth plans, Finzer noted that the OpenSea team is closely watching the developments within the Solana ecosystems as well as Bitcoin Ordinals. These two chains are reshaping perceptions of digital collectibles, and OpenSea might be expanding on its support in the long term.
However, Finzer weighed in on the competition with Ethereum as a digital collectible hub, noting that neither Bitcoin nor Solana can take the place of Ethereum as a de facto NFT chain.
Ethereum still boasts of some of the most exclusive blue chip NFTs, like Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks. Overall, Ethereum has the greatest liquidity, and the OpenSea CEO sees it as a platform that will dominate in years to come.