In 2021 and 2022, OpenSea was the world’s most dominant NFT marketplace. But with a decline in interest and floor prices for NFTs in 2023, and the arrival of competitor marketplaces like Blur, OpenSea has seen a dramatic drop in its performance.
Recently, the CEO of OpenSea, Devin Finzer, has been laying out plans to revive the fallen marketplace by embracing the diversity of NFT use cases. While profile-picture (PFP) NFT collections like CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club contributed significantly to OpenSea’s rise, the marketplace appears ready to pivot towards other use cases that are emerging in the industry.
One use case for digital collectibles that is growing in popularity is NFT as tickets. Tokenized event tickets have a myriad of benefits that could shake up the industry. For example, NFT tickets can prevent scalping — a major problem in the ticketing industry. They can also be kept as digital collectibles, or resold on secondary marketplaces.
Finzer told Bloomberg that OpenSea intends to list NFT event tickets on its website on a calendar. The site will also be revamping its interface so that users can browse NFTs based on particular use cases. He said that despite the setbacks last year, the company is focused not just on driving the most sales volume, but on building “the most compelling use cases for NFTs.
Another change to the platform will be a user-friendly upgrade to enable users to toggle between its pro version for traders and a collectors view, which tends to attract less experienced collectors and people entering the space for the first time.
Although some investors have slashed the value of OpenSea by as much as 90% following its dismal year in the market, Finzer said the company remains focused on its long-term position as opposed to too much focus on “short-term marketplace dynamics.”
Time will tell if OpenSea can stage a comeback. But with the Bitcoin ETFs approved and many people in the space predicting a bull market in the near future for crypto — a situation that could rejuvenate interest in the NFT market — now looks like as good a time as any to make a move.
OpenSea Builds Despite Tough Times in 2023
There’s no denying OpenSea had a tough go of it in 2023. Even with the emergence of the Ordinals Protocol breathing new life into the NFT space, OpenSea struggled and even lost its marketplace dominance to the “new kid on the block” Blur. But that hasn’t stopped the OG NFT marketplace from continuing to build its brand.
At Rarity Sniper, we’ve covered several articles about OpenSea recently. Here are some of the top headlines from last year, and one from 2024:
- January 2024. OpenSea Lowers Bar of Entry For Self-Custodial Wallets
- September 2023. OpenSea to Debut ‘Creator Studio,’ Sunset Lazy Minting
- August 2023. OpenSea to Debut ‘Creator Studio,’ Sunset Lazy Minting
- July 2023. OpenSea Launches ‘Deals’: A New P2P NFT Swap Feature
- April 2023. OpenSea Introduces ‘Pro’ Version for NFT Power Traders
As the competition for NFT marketplaces heats up, the days of OpenSea’s dominance could be a thing of the past. But that doesn’t mean you can count the marketplace out of the race just yet.
If the company and its CEO Devin Finzer can pivot appropriately, as these recent announcements indicate they plan on doing, OpenSea could become one of the best come back stories in Web3. At Rarity Sniper, we’ll be paying close attention to the marketplace in 2024.