OpenSea to Launch SEA Token in Q1 2026, Allocating 50% to Community

OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer has confirmed that the company will launch its long-awaited SEA token in the first quarter of ￰0￱ Takeaways: OpenSea will launch its SEA token in Q1 2026, with 50% of the supply allocated to the community and early ￰1￱ platform will use half of its revenue to buy back SEA tokens while allowing users to stake behind collections and projects. OpenSea’s pivot to a multi-chain trading aggregator reflects its shift from NFTs to broader crypto trading, now spanning 22 ￰2￱ a recent post on X , Finzer said that half of SEA’s total supply will go to the community, with early users and reward program participants eligible for separate ￰3￱ to Use 50% of Revenue for SEA Buybacks, Adds Staking Utility The token will be fully integrated into OpenSea’s core ￰4￱ will be able to stake SEA behind their favorite collections or projects, while 50% of OpenSea’s platform revenue will be used to buy back SEA ￰5￱ dual approach of staking and buybacks is intended to reinforce token utility and long-term value within the ￰6￱ announcement comes as OpenSea continues to pivot from being the face of the NFT boom to a broader multi-chain trading ￰7￱ dominating digital art markets, the platform now supports 22 blockchains and recorded $2.6 billion in trading volume this month, over 90% of which came from token trading rather than NFTs.

OpenSea’s repositioning follows the collapse of the NFT sector, where trading volumes have fallen more than 90% from their 2021 ￰8￱ total market capitalization dropped from $20 billion in early 2022 to around $4.87 billion by October 2025, according to ￰9￱ crossed $2.6B in trading volume this month, with over 90% from token ￰10￱ is just the beginning of our transformation, from “NFT marketplace” to “trade everything.” NFTs were chapter one for ￰11￱ 2021, OpenSea brought the first wave of everyday internet users… — ￰12￱ | opensea (@dfinzer) October 17, 2025 Finzer described the company’s pivot as both a necessity and an evolution . “You can’t fight the macro trend,” he said.

“People want to trade everything—not just digital art.” OpenSea has recently introduced new tools, including a mobile app and perpetual futures trading, as part of its effort to position itself as a “trade-any-crypto” ￰13￱ marketplace now aggregates buy and sell orders from decentralized exchanges like Uniswap and Meteora, generating roughly $16 million in revenue over the same period through a 0.9% transaction ￰14￱ SEA token’s debut, delayed by more than a year, had fueled speculation across prediction markets like ￰15￱ Finzer’s update, the odds of a 2025 token launch dropped from nearly 40% to under 1%. OpenSea’s Trading Volume Hits 3-Year High as Platform Reinvents Itself At the height of the NFT frenzy in January 2022, OpenSea generated $125 million in monthly revenue and was valued at $13.3 billion, making it one of the most valuable startups in ￰16￱ by late 2023, as interest in digital collectibles evaporated, its monthly revenue had fallen to just $3 ￰17￱ company was forced to lay off more than half of its staff , shrinking from about 175 employees to around 60 ￰18￱ downturn was accelerated by competition from rival marketplace Blur, which captured traders with zero fees and no royalties for creators .

OpenSea’s response, loosening its own royalty structure , backfired, sparking backlash from artists and collectors who accused the company of abandoning its ￰19￱ dwindling market share and financial strain, Finzer initiated a major ￰20￱ company has since relocated its headquarters to Miami, with most staff working remotely. Additionally, in the first two weeks of October 2025, the company handled $1.6 billion in crypto trades and $230 million in NFT transactions, its biggest month in more than three years.