OpenSea, the non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace, announced on November 3 that it was laying off employees. Co-founder and CEO Devin Finzer bankrupt the news on X (formerly Twitter), saying that the company was launching OpenSea 2.0 with a smaller team.
OpenSea launched in 2017, when NFTs were an innovation. It operates with a version similar to eBay and Etsy and accepts payments in Ether (ETH). It laid off 20% of its employees in July 2022, citing the crypto winter, after which it had a staff of 230 people, according to press reports at the time. A pioneer exchange spokesperson told Cointelegraph via email:
“Today we are making important organizational and operational changes as we focus on building a more agile (and ultimately better) version of OpenSea. “We are immensely grateful for the contributions of those leaving OpenSea and are supporting them with a robust package consisting of financial and non-financial support.”
The spokesperson added that around 50% of employees would be affected across all functions and mentioned in particular that the number of middle managers would be reduced. Employees would receive four-month severance packages, accelerated equity vesting and six months of ongoing medical and mental health care.
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The NFT collectible market peaked in 2021. Since then, use cases such as tokenization of assets, identification and legal documents have gained popularity as the value of many collectibles decreased.
OpenSea was in the right place at the right time with the right product. But so was Tower Records. What can OpenSea do to maintain its leadership? The answer is simple. Become a DAO and give a governance token to users. It will be valued in tens of billions. Everyone wins.
– Beanie (@beaniemaxi) November 11, 2021
OpenSea faced significant community backlash in August when it announced it was removing its carrier filter, a feature that allowed creators to blacklist marketplaces that did not apply royalties. Yuga Labs, creator of the popular Bored Ape Yacht Club and the CryptoPunks NFT series, began gradually reducing its use of OpenSea’s Seaport marketplace smart contract in response.
“As we rebuild, we will continue to support our existing products and iteratively test OpenSea 2.0 publicly,” Finzer said in his X post. The company currently lists 12 open positions on LinkedIn with starting salaries ranging from $90,000 to $270,000. .
Magazine: Animoca Brands Doubles Valuation to $5 Billion, OpenSea Tops $3.5 Billion in January Volume, Microsoft Eyes Metaverse Gaming: Hodler’s Digest, Jan. 16-22
