OpenSea raises $300 million for encrypted digital marketplace

The nonfungible token (NFT) market is gaining momentum as the next frontier in collectibles, gaming and the metaverse. 

To accelerate this vision, OpenSea announced on Jan. 4 that it has secured $300 million in a Series C funding led by Coatue and Paradigm.

OpenSea is a digital market based on the Wyvern Protocol, which is composed of custom-built Ethereum smart contracts that are expressly created for buying and selling unique digital assets. The marketplace was established in 2018.

With the most recent investment, OpenSea’s value has now surpassed $13.3 billion. Apart from Paradigm and Coatue, OpenSea noted that there were a number of both new and existing investors who participated in the round.

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OpenSea said it will use the money to further develop its product, enhance customer service and security, invest in the wider NFT and Web3 community, and hire more employees.

In 2021, NFTs played a major role in the mainstream success of crypto and blockchain. The industry recorded over $14 billion in sales during the year, with digital art collections and digital collectibles accounting for 91% of transactions, according to company data. OpenSea has already generated more than $700 million worth of trade volume since the start of 2022, as reported by Cointelegraph.