From a valuation of 13.3 billion to marginalization, can OpenSea set sail again after its transformation?

As the "synonym" for NFT trading, OpenSea once became one of the most followed platforms in the crypto market in 2021 due to its good user experience and strong network effects. However, with the rise of competitors like Blur and Magic Eden, OpenSea's market share has been continuously declining. Now, in the context of an overall cooling down of the NFT sector, OpenSea has launched a series of transformation actions, attempting to evolve from a "single NFT trading platform" into an "on-chain multi-asset trading gateway."

from NFT exchange to on-chain asset platform

OpenSea's transformation can be traced back to the beginning of this year.

In February 2025, OpenSea announced the upcoming release of its native platform token SEA, along with the launch of an interactive task system called Voyages. Users can earn points by completing on-chain tasks, which will serve as qualifications for future airdrops. This move is seen as a response to Blur's "trading is mining" model, aiming to re-attract lost traders.

In late May, OpenSea announced that the new OS2 platform officially exited the Beta stage and supports token trading on 19 mainstream public chains, including Ethereum, Solana, and Polygon.

The new trading system integrates NFTs and encryption tokens, emphasizing "composability" and "on-chain native", while further enhancing the mobile experience.

On July 8th, OpenSea scored another victory by announcing the acquisition of the Web3 wallet project Rally. Rally focuses on a mobile self-custody wallet, integrating social features and multi-asset support. In this acquisition, Rally co-founder Chris Maddern will serve as OpenSea's CTO, while another co-founder, Christine Hall, will take on the role of Chief of Staff, directly joining the core management team.

OpenSea stated that the acquisition of Rally will accelerate its "mobile-first" strategy and lower the entry barrier for users through a native wallet system, enhancing the platform's on-chain transaction closed-loop capability.

The NFT market continues to be sluggish, with OpenSea experiencing significant "blood loss".

Despite the tight pace of transformation, OpenSea's fundamentals have not shown any improvement.

According to data from The Block, as of June 2025, OpenSea's monthly NFT trading volume has dropped to about $120 million, far below its peak of over $4 billion in early 2022.

In contrast, Blur has long dominated the high-frequency trader market with liquidity incentives and its native token BLUR, while Magic Eden remains at the top within the Solana ecosystem.

More importantly, although OpenSea has launched the Voyages task system, it has not led to a significant return of users. A large number of users have shown aesthetic fatigue towards the "task points + airdrop expectations" model, and the community's enthusiasm has not seen a rebound, with limited improvement in on-chain interaction activity.

As of now, the SEA token has not disclosed specific launch time, distribution mechanism, or economic model, resulting in limited transparency and insufficient market confidence.

Brand Misalignment and User Migration: A More Difficult Problem to Solve

In addition to liquidity issues, OpenSea also faces deeper challenges related to branding and user structure.

NFT collectors and DeFi traders exhibit significant differences. The former focuses more on artistry, scarcity, and collectible value, preferring low-frequency trading; while the latter emphasizes liquidity, depth, and efficiency, with a high trading frequency and stricter demands on user experience and technical responsiveness.

OpenSea previously excelled in positioning itself in the art market but failed to timely establish a competitive advantage in trading experience and specialized products. If this transformation does not quickly build brand recognition aimed at DeFi users, it may face the dilemma of "having created a product but no one uses it."

In addition, the wallet market has long been dominated by strong brands like MetaMask and Rainbow. Although Rally has made innovations in social and mobile, its user base and product maturity are still limited. Whether OpenSea can build a wallet product with economies of scale in the short term through this acquisition remains to be seen.

Transformation may already be the last opportunity

OpenSea's transformation is both a self-rescue and a gamble.

It is trying to reshape its competitiveness through three major strategies: building an OS2 ecological closed loop to bridge the gap between NFT and DeFi, launching SEA tokens to activate liquidity, and expanding the mobile market through collaboration with Rally.

These choices are reasonable in terms of strategic direction. However, in terms of execution rhythm, community mobilization, and product implementation, OpenSea does not have a significant competitive advantage. When the SEA token will be launched and whether it has a clear incentive model will become key variables in the coming months. If the airdrop is delayed and platform user activity continues to decline, OpenSea may face a real risk of marginalization. It's important to note that in the crypto world, a few months can represent an era, and OpenSea's window for transformation may indeed be limited.