OpenSea Shifts Focus to Foster OpenSea 2.0, Lays Off Employees

OpenSea, the American Non-Fungible Token (NFT) marketplace, has made the decision to lay off nearly 50% of its employees in order to shift its focus towards the development of OpenSea 2.0, an upgraded version of the platform. This decision was announced by OpenSea's co-founder and CEO, Devin Finzer, who emphasized the goal of enhancing the platform's underlying technology, reliability, speed, quality, and user experience.

Affected employees will receive four-month severance packages, an accelerated equity vesting schedule, and six months of continued healthcare and mental healthcare services as part of the company's effort to provide support during this transition.

OpenSea has faced criticism from the community, with some suggesting that the platform has been following industry trends rather than leading them. In response, Devin Finzer reiterated the company's commitment to becoming a leader in the industry and to involving the existing community in their journey towards an enhanced ecosystem. OpenSea plans to rebuild while continuing to support its existing products and iteratively testing OpenSea 2.0 in public.

Chinese crypto reporter Colin Wu highlighted OpenSea's new focus on innovation and the reduction of its workforce. He also noted that OpenSea's market share had dropped significantly, falling to 18% at the beginning of November from 73% in October 2022.

The NFT market has experienced price declines, with floor prices of prominent "blue-chip" NFT collections dropping by over 25% in August. OpenSea had previously laid off around 20% of its employees in July in response to the challenges in the NFT market. The company's shift towards OpenSea 2.0 is part of its effort to remain competitive and adapt to changing market conditions.

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