OpenSea raises $300 million for its crypto marketplace

After the new round of capital injection, OpenSea's market value has exceeded 13.3 billion US dollars.

OpenSea, a marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFTs), is gathering momentum as the next frontier for collectibles, games, and the metaverse.

To accelerate that vision, OpenSea announced Tuesday that it has secured $300 million in Series C funding led by Coatue and Paradigm.

OpenSea is a digital marketplace based on the Wyvern protocol, which consists of custom Ethereum smart contracts dedicated to the purchase and sale of unique digital assets. The market was established in 2018.

With the recent investment, OpenSea is now worth more than $13.3 billion. In addition to Paradigm and Coatue, OpenSea noted that a number of new and existing investors participated in the round.

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

In 2021, NFTs will play a major role in the mainstream success of cryptocurrencies and blockchains. The industry recorded more than $14 billion in sales during the year, with digital art collectibles and digital collectibles accounting for 91 percent of transactions, according to company data. As reported by Cointelegraph, OpenSea has generated over $700 million worth of transaction volume since 2022.