OpenSea Receives Investment Offers Worth $10B in Valuation

One of the largest non-fungible token (NFT) marketplaces, OpenSea, has received a number of investment offers that could see its valuation jump six times, The Information reported on 17 November.

The publication cited “two people with direct knowledge of the matter”, who claimed that potential backers have made offers to OpenSea that could see its valuation jump to $10 billion or more. While the reaction of OpenSea is still unknown, the sources stated that the company did not initiate the fundraising talks.

The NFT marketplace gained its unicorn status back in July, when it held a $100 million Series B funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), which brought OpenSea’s valuation to $1.5 billion. Its previous funding round, also led by a16z, was held in March and netted the company $23 million in funding.

It comes as no surprise that investors are rushing to get a piece of the company, and are trying to initiate the investment process, considering OpenSea’s reported growth and trading volumes. According to data from Dune Analytics, the NFT marketplace reached a trading volume of $3.4 billion in August, which was more than 10 times higher than in July. While trading on the platform may have declined since then, the company is still reporting volumes of more than $2 billion each month.

The NFT platform has also experienced its share of problems in the past couple of months. Back in September, OpenSea’s head of product, Nate Chastain, was accused of insider trading, having purchased items in NFT collections right before they were put on the platform’s homepage. Upon learning of his conduct, OpenSea immediately requested and accepted his resignation.