The non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea will be upgraded in December with a new and improved platform amid prolonged NFT market doldrums.&nbsp;
“To really innovate, sometimes you have to take a step back and reimagine everything. So we built a new OpenSea from the ground up,” <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/dfinzer/status/1853462725742985713" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">said</a> OpenSea co-founder and CEO Devin Finzer in a Nov. 4 X post.
He added that the new platform will be launched in December, without providing further details. A link shared by OpenSea on X redirected to a waiting list page with a prompt to connect a crypto wallet.
DappRadar communications manager and head of content “nederob” <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/Nederob/status/1853713927571403140" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">said</a> on X there was “some serious hype” about the new platform since users may be expecting an airdrop.&nbsp;
Still, considering that the platform is based in the United States, he added that a token airdrop was “unlikely but not unthinkable.”&nbsp;
He speculated that new features may include account abstraction or “smart accounts,” NFT shared ownership, memecoin trading and minting, more chain integration and SocialFi.&nbsp;
Meanwhile, trading volume on OpenSea surged almost 60% over the week, topping $50 million as <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/nft-volume-increase-october-2024" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">NFT sales</a> jumped, <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://dappradar.com/dapp/opensea/marketplace" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">according</a> to DappRadar. While volumes hit $15 million on Nov. 2, they have remained relatively flat since early 2022.&nbsp;
OpenSea was launched in 2017 but did not gain widespread popularity until the NFT boom in 2021. The platform saw peak trading volume hit $5 billion in January 2022, but since then, the NFT bubble has burst, sending volumes and revenue plummeting.
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 <img alt="OpenSea" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-11/0192ffa9-315a-763b-a83b-408b9e33c9a2" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 OpenSea monthly volume. Source: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://dune.com/rchen8/opensea" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="https://dune.com/rchen8/opensea">Dune</a>
 </figcaption>
</figure>
Monthly volume was just $46 million in October, down 99% from its all-time high, according to Dune Analytics.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Related: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/nft-securities-sec-wells-notice-opensea-lawyer-response" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/nft-securities-sec-wells-notice-opensea-lawyer-response">NFTs can be securities but SEC Wells notice to OpenSea ‘not productive’</a>
The announcement comes after the US Securities and Exchange Commission hit the <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/learn/types-of-nft" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">NFT</a> marketplace in September <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/opensea-wells-notice-sec-nfts" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">with a Wells notice</a>, a warning that it <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/opensea-sec-wells-notice-monthly-nft-sales-400-million-newsletter" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">could launch</a> an enforcement action alleging trading of unregistered securities.&nbsp;
Finzer said at the time that “by targeting NFTs, the SEC would stifle innovation on an even broader scale,” impacting hundreds of thousands of digital <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/learn/what-is-crypto-art-and-how-does-it-work" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">artists</a> and creators.
The firm has had a tumultuous couple of years, laying off staff in November 2023 when Finzer announced that it was re-orienting the team around “OpenSea 2.0.”
Magazine: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/gmoneys-anguish-over-buying-top-of-cryptopunks-nft-collector/" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">gmoney’s anguish over ‘buying the top’ of CryptoPunks: NFT Collector</a>&nbsp;

OpenSea promises comeback with new, improved platform

Cointelegraph

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