OpenSea slashes workforce by 50% before launching OpenSea 2.0

OpenSea has announced that it is soon going to launch OpenSea 2.0. However, what has attracted a larger number of eyeballs is the NFT Marketplace slashing its staff force by 50%. This is not the first time OpenSea has reduced its staff, except the explanation has changed. This time, the platform has said that it is progressing towards the launch of its second version with a more compact team.

OpenSea previously slashed its team by 20% in July 2022, citing the crypto winter and its effects as a reason. It had a total of 230 employees at that time. Meanwhile, OpenSea has posted 12 job openings on LinkedIn.

Devin Finzer, co-founder and chief executive officer of OpenSea, has verified the development on X, formerly Twitter. Since 2021, during the height of the NFT market segment, OpenSea has been transforming its operational approach. The industry’s subsequent emphasis on identity verification, tokenization of assets, and legal documents precipitated a precipitous decline.

A reaction from the community has started flowing in. Members are saying that including the announcement of layoffs in the middle of OpenSea 2.0’s introduction is a type of sandwich method. 

That pertains to OpenSea returning a crucial feature—the Operator Filter—in August this year. It basically took away the right of creators to blacklist marketplaces that were not enforcing royalty payments. This was taken with a bad spirit by the community, including Yuga Labs. The creators of Bored Ape Yacht Club went to the extent that they literally reduced their reliance on the platform. Also, the creators of CryptoPunks, Yuga Labs, created a path for others to follow in response to what OpenSea did.

Devin initiated his announcement by saying that he was introducing the next vision of their product. It followed with a highlighted commitment to pushing Web3 forward through innovation. Per Devin’s announcement, most of the current development is based on the feedback that the community shared with OpenSea, calling the platform a follower instead of a leader.

The revised goal is to move with speed, conviction, and quality. Hence, the introduction of OpenSea 2.0. Devin did not directly state that they were laying off the staff. It was an indirect statement with an attempted emotional touch, stating that they were bidding goodbye to OpenSea teammates.

He did acknowledge their role in shaping the marketplace, further saying that other companies would be lucky to hire them.

The community continues to express its opinion and speculation about both developments. Some of them have even said that the news of the layoff should not have been made on a Friday night.