By
Chimamanda U. Martha
April 17th, 2024
OpenSea NFT sales reached $10.35 billion for the first time since the marketplace was established four years ago.
According to primary sources, the most popular marketplace for Non-Fungible tokens (NFTs), OpenSea, is getting a new round of funding that will see the company’s valuation reach at least $10 billion.
The sources pointed out that the fundraising event was demanded mainly by investors who saw the impressive numbers the marketplace has been able to draw recently.
Four months ago, the company concluded a Series B funding round which raised $100 million and placed OpenSea’s valuation at $1.5 billion. Mr. Horowitz venture capital firm a16z led this investment round. His company was also in charge of the Series A funding round for OpenSea in March.
The clamor for a new fundraising event is followed by the increased trading volume enjoyed by OpenSea and the NFT mania going around the crypto space. So far, the NFT marketplace has made over $11 billion in sales. According to DappRadar, OpenSea sold a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT for $3 million.
OpenSea Sales Surpasses $10 Billion amid Growing Valuation
Last week, OpenSea sales of NFT reached $10.35 billion for the first time since it was established four years ago, making it an all-time high. Dune Analytics’ data shows the transaction volume came from 637,296 traders’ accounts and at an average of $872.67 per transaction. August trading volume sits at $3 billion which is a huge leap from August 2020’s $20 million sales volume. Within a year, there’s been a 233% increase as total sales volume more than doubled.
NFT enthusiasts have attributed the surge in transactions to the increased number of users on the platform. As of June, OpenSea marketplace could barely boast of 200,000 active users on its platform but now, it has over 600,000 registered active users towards the end of September
The year 2021 has seen the NFT market growing immensely with a lot of investors jumping into the market. Towards the end of August, OpenSea recorded over $200 million in sales as compared to last year’s $100,000.
Earlier in September, OpenSea faced a stepback with the resignation of their top executive, Nate Chastain following allegations of insider trading levied against him. Aside from this major drawback, the platform has maintained its lead as the largest NFT marketplace in the crypto sphere.
The NFT marketplace also holds the distinction of being a major cause of ETH burns. OpenSea has led to around 10% of all Ether burns since the launch of EIP-1559. This roughly translates to around $400 million worth of Ether burns.