NFT Marketplace OpenSea Bags $300 Million in Fresh Investment, Takes Valuation to $13.3 Billion

OpenSea, the online marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFTs), has bagged a fresh investment of $300 million (roughly Rs. 2,229 crore). The capital came to the company in a Series C funding round led by two companies, Paradigm and Coatue. With this, the market valuation of OpenSea currently stands at $13.3 billion (roughly Rs. 98,868 crore). The development comes at a time the NFT sector is booming in several parts of the world with the likes of many international artists and celebrities.

For the next phase of developments that would be supported by the fresh funding, OpenSea has listed four goals.

“We have four goals for this funding: accelerate product development, significantly improve customer support and customer safety, meaningfully invest in the wider NFT and Web3 community, and grow our team,” the New York City, US-based company said in a statement.

NFTs are digital collectibles, inspired by an array of things like artwork, music, and video games among others.

Surging sales and hefty prices of NFTs have baffled many, but the multi-fold growth shows little or no depreciation whatsoever.

Rapper Snoop Dogg owns what is considered to be among the most expensive NFTs. It is a Fidenza digital artwork number 938 called “God Mode” that cost Snoop Dogg $8.5 million (roughly Rs. 63 crore).

In the third quarter of 2021, NFT sales volume surged to $10.7 billion (roughly Rs. 79,820 crore), up more than eightfold from the previous quarter, according to data from market tracker DappRadar.

In the last 30 days alone, OpenSea which is one of the largest marketplaces for NFTs, clocked 1.6 million Ethereum transactions and a trading volume of $2.4 billion (roughly Rs. 17,841 crore), another report by DappRadar, released recently said.

In July last year, OpenSea's market valuation stood at 1.5 billion (roughly Rs. 11,150 crore).

Several other global artists including Eminem and Amitabh Bachchan have marked their presence in the NFT world.

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