Rally co-founders have been onboarded on OpenAI’s leadership team
Financial details of Rally’s acquisition remain undisclosed
OpenAI and the team of Rally plan to create an AI-powered mobile-first app for engaging with NFTs
OpenSea has acquired mobile-first Web3 platform dubbed Rally for an undisclosed amount this week. Through this, the NFT marketplace wishes to push NFT trading services into the smartphone ecosystem, hoping to increase its overall user engagement. The development comes at a time when the NFT sector is struggling with declining interest among investors globally.
The official X account of OpenSea, this week, confirmed the purchase of Rally to its 2.3 million followers.
Key details about the deal
“Buckle up. The future of NFT and token trading fits in your pocket,” OpenSea posted on X while also naming Rally co-founder Chris Maddern as its new Chief Technology Officer (CTO).
Newsletter
Get weekly updates on the newest crypto stories, case studies and tips right in your mailbox.
Launched as “Floor” in 2021, New York-based Rally refers to itself as a “memecoin wallet” that lets users trade memecoins, crypto tokens, and NFTs with real-time data and insights. The app individually has a rating of 4.8 on Google PlayStore with over 100,000 downloads as of Thursday, July 10.
As explained by a Decrypt report, the platform was launched as a smartphone app for investors to monitor their NFT portfolios. In 2024, the platform rebranded into “Rally” and expanded its services into other on-chain services like memecoin trading and digital wallets.
Upon being acquired by OpenSea, Maddern plans to create an AI-enabled product that will “bring on-chain assets, culture, and ownership to real people, not just early adopters.”
“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. With the acquisition of Rally, we now have the tools to create the best combined mobile experience today,” the new CTO of OpenSea noted.
Rally co-founder Christine Hall has also been roped into OpenAI’s leadership team as its Chief of Staff.
State of NFTs
The buzz around NFTs has seemingly dwindled in recent years. NFTs or non-fungible tokens are digital collectibles that usually carry underlaying values as well as a quotient of uniqueness. These tradeable assets often make for an integral part of the Web3 gaming, metaverse and digital assets ecosystems.
Owing to market volatility, however, the NFT market has clocked a sharp decline in the last 18 months, 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.
NFT marketplaces like OpenSea and LooksRare have also witnessed a drop in traffic and engagement in recent times, a report by CryptoNews highlighted this week.