- NFT sales have clocked a sharp decline in the last 18 months
- OpenSea is hinging its survival in the market on the crypto community now
- Elaborate details on its crypto-related plans for the near future remain undisclosed for now
As the hype around NFTs has seemingly dwindled, OpenSea is planning to take its branding beyond just that of an NFT marketplace. Chris Maddern, the recently appointed chief technology officer (CTO) at OpenSea, hinted about the platform’s crypto-focussed plans for the future in a recent interview.
In order to retain its userbase amid dropping NFT sales, OpenSea plans to become an “onchain everything app”, CoinTelegraph quoted Maddern as saying in an interaction on Tuesday, July 15. The platform is looking to load up on “the best of crypto” features to appeal to the global crypto community.
Maddern joined OpenSea last week after his mobile-first Web3 platform called “Rally” was acquired by the NFT marketplace for an undisclosed amount. With this acquisition, OpenSea is hinging its survival on launching smartphone-compatible services around NFTs, cryptocurrencies, and other digital assets.
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In his interview, the CTO noted that OpenSea plans to consolidate an array of Web3 features including Decentralised Finance (DeFi) within the platform itself – allowing simplified access to these services from smartphones. In the coming future, OpenSea is viewing itself as a multi-asset ecosystem.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be integrated with OpenSea to let its users streamline and discover what the platform could help them do with NFTs and other digital assets via mobiles. For now, Maddern did not share elaborate details on the specifics that OpenSea is focussing on, planning its branding revamp.
“Web3 has ignored mobile for far too long. Mobile is how we explore and discover. The next generation of on-chain consumers will be mobile-first,” Maddern had said in his post last week, confirming Rally’s acquisition by OpenSea, indicating at the latter’s roadmap to survive amid the prevailing volatility in the global digital assets industry.
In the last 18 months, the NFT market has witnessed a significant fall, data by DappRadar shows. In the second quarter of 2025, NFT sales volume fetched merely $823 million – compared to last year’s amount of $4 billion, clocking a fall of 19 percent.
