NFTs have gone beyond the crypto universe. Non-fungible tokens (or NFTs) have come a long way since CryptoKitties in 2017. Although, the craze for these cute cat trading cards then had already sparked one of the first historical bottlenecks on the Ethereum network. Today the OpenSea platform is a real success while already scoring a prolific fundraiser.
OpenSea – The Amazon Dedicated to NFTs
As Fortune magazine reports, the idea for the OpenSea platform came to Devin Finzer, observing the phenomenon of CryptoKitties. In fact, the co-founder and current CEO of OpenSea wanted from the start to “create an Amazon or an eBay for all these new non-fungible tokens.”
Created in 2018, the OpenSea platform now includes a vast collection of NFTs, which have fully benefited from the recent boom in these goods made unique thanks to blockchains. OpenSea’s NFT trading volume thus jumped from $8 million in sales in January 2021 to $95 million in February, in a matter of just one month.
“The world is waking up to the power of this technology, and it’s happening quite suddenly (…) Over the next few years billions of people will be introduced to digital property, and we have built OpenSea as an entry point to trust in this world.”
~ Devin Finzer, CEO at OpenSea
Investments Led By a16z
With this incredible potential, the OpenSea platform has thus succeeded in raising the pretty impressive sum of 23 million US dollars to continue its development. This fundraiser was led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and was followed by wealthy investors, such as Naval Ravikant (AngelList), Balaji Srinivasan (former CTO of Coinbase), Ryan Selkis (Messari), and even Mark Cuban.
“We just think there is a huge market. Look at Apple last year. People bought $61 billion worth of digital content from the Apple Store (…) We don’t think this is silly or just a passing fad at all (…) We take into account the risk of ups and downs. We’re cryptocurrency investors, so we’re very comfortable with it, and we’re used to it. We’re here for the long haul.”
~ Kathryn Haun, Partner at a16z
Not only are NFTs crazy, but even the structures and companies promoting them are successful with investors. As long as the current bullish movement in the crypto market continues, there is little chance that the regular record sales of these one-of-a-kind tokens will subside.
