The NFT market is exploding again. Its largest marketplace, OpenSea, is now valued at $13.3 billion.
Big investment in OpenSea
As the largest marketplace for NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain, OpenSea is at the forefront of the market explosion. If NFTs succeed, OpenSea also wins strongly. OpenSea now also supports Polygon as a layer 2 solution for Ethereum and Klaytn’s independent blockchain.
OpenSea announced yesterday that it received a new injection of funds of US$300 million. The platform was valued at $13.3 billion. Investments come from venture capital firms Paradigm and Coatue.
Coinbase and HackerOne board member Katie Haun also participated in the funding with her KRH fund. She keeps an open seat on the OpenSea board.
OpenSea itself makes it clear that investment is urgently needed in order to be able to implement new products and hire new employees. Users expect a whole new experience.
We want to be the target of this new economy. We will lower the barriers to entry into the world of NFTs in the new year.
Says CEO Devin Finzer. In combination with a Tweeter confirms the impression that OpenSea would like to support other blockchains in the future. It was only in July that the range was expanded to include two new blockchains, which in the first place enable significantly cheaper trading with NFTs.
Ethereum has long had issues with its scalability. This is also evident on OpenSea. Even when typing – i.e. when creating NFTs – the user has to pay high fees. For many users, the principle is already uninteresting.
OpenSea multiplies the value in a year and a half
In its last funding round in July 2020, OpenSea raised $100 million and achieved a relatively paltry valuation of $1.5 billion. Almost a year and a half have passed since then and the estimated value of the company has increased almost ninefold.
So far, the market hasn’t had to pay much attention to advertising. Thanks to big projects like the CryptoPunks or the Bored Ape Yacht Club, OpenSea is a guaranteed success. The public relations campaigns of collections such as BAYC then also work to OpenSea’s advantage.
It is disputed whether NFTs really have the value for which they are currently traded. The feeling often arises that this is a rising gold rush mood. Critics suspect that NFTs are triggering a bubble that will eventually burst.
The second most expensive NFT of all time is currently at $29 million, as we reported in November. The same artist once sold the most expensive NFT for nearly $70 million. For works of art, these prices are usually astronomical.
Such prices are debatable, especially on the Internet. Unlike the physical world, the original and the copy are at least indistinguishable here outside of a blockchain.
Eminem buys NFT
NFTs are not only recognized by tech-enthusiastic speculators. More recently, rapper Eminem reportedly purchased a BAYC monkey dedicated to him.
Based on its human model, users call the monkey EminApe. The monkey changed hands for 123.45 Ethereum. This equates to approximately $462,000.
In any case, the manager behind BAYC thanks Eminem for his enthusiasm. Because the fact is that Eminem adorns his own Twitter account with this likeness. The monkey wears gold chains and an olive-colored baseball cap, just like Eminem wears.
I live in a simulation.
Thank you @Eminem for buying my monkey and joining the club!
dementia Let me write a lyric in your next single 🤣 pic.twitter.com/myGNRmMLeD
— GeeGazza  (@Gee__Gazza) December 31, 2021
Eminem’s colleague Snoop Dogg is already a big fan of digital art in the form of NFT. According to his own statement he is the famous collector NFT Cozomo de Medici. Since August, the collector has gained notoriety for acquiring NFTs for millions of dollars. Its collection currently includes 467 works of art.