What is OpenSea?

OpenSea is a peer-to-peer marketplace for discovering and trading everything onchain, including NFTs and fungible tokens, across dozens of blockchains. Transactions happen directly between people on the blockchain rather than through a middleman that holds your assets. OpenSea never takes custody of your NFTs or tokens; when you use OpenSea, you connect your own self-custodial crypto wallet and stay in control of your assets at every step.

Using OpenSea, you can explore digital art, PFPs, music, gaming items, membership passes, domains, and more, each represented as an NFT that proves ownership and provenance on the blockchain. You can also trade fungible tokens, mint new NFTs, and follow real-time onchain activity, using a single interface.

For a closer look at the mechanics, including how wallets, smart contracts, and gas fees fit together, read How Does OpenSea Work?

How did OpenSea start?

Devin Finzer and Alex Atallah founded OpenSea in 2017, inspired by early NFT projects like CryptoKitties and a new generation of applications built on blockchain technology rather than hosted on company servers. OpenSea became the first non-custodial marketplace for digital assets.

With NFTs, digital items could be unique, provably scarce, openly transferable, truly user-owned, and usable across multiple applications. Devin and Alex saw how these open protocols could enable developers and users to create open economies across games, platforms, and digital worlds, free from walled gardens. As NFTs grew from a niche experiment into a global movement, the platform grew with them. Artists began making a living selling their work as NFTs, collectors found communities around shared projects, and brands, musicians, and game studios started building onchain.

How has OpenSea evolved?

OpenSea began as an NFT marketplace and evolved into a platform for trading everything onchain. Its biggest transformation came with OS2, a ground-up rebuild introduced on February 13, 2025 that brought NFTs and fungible tokens together in one faster, more flexible experience.

On May 29, 2025, OS2 officially came out of beta, unlocking full token trading, and the legacy platform began winding down on June 16, 2025. The new OpenSea introduced:

• NFTs and tokens in one place. You can buy, sell, and trade NFTs and fungible tokens using OpenSea, with access to aggregated liquidity across the ecosystem.
• Support for dozens of blockchains. OpenSea works across leading chains, with more added regularly, and cross-chain purchasing lets you buy assets on one chain using funds from another without manually bridging.
• A refreshed community hub. OpenSea's Discord serves as a home for the broader onchain community, from digital art to gaming and beyond.

What are OpenSea's mission and values?

OpenSea's mission is to make the onchain economy open and accessible to everyone. The principles that have guided the platform since its founding still apply today:

Trust. OpenSea prioritizes the safety of everyone who uses the platform, from creators to collectors, through its policies, tools, verification signals, and customer support.

Inclusivity. Anyone can participate. Independent artists have access to the same technology and smart contracts as established brands, which levels the playing field for anyone entering web3.

Selection. OpenSea offers one of the broadest selections of onchain assets anywhere, giving everyone the ability to explore, discover, and support all kinds of projects.

What can you do using OpenSea?

Using OpenSea, you can buy, sell, mint, and trade NFTs and tokens across dozens of blockchains through your own crypto wallet. Popular starting points include:

• Buy an NFT from collections across dozens of blockchains
• Sell an NFT by creating listings or accepting offers
• Create and mint NFTs using OpenSea Studio
• Trade tokens with access to aggregated liquidity from major decentralized exchanges across the ecosystem
• Swap tokens across chains, or buy assets on one chain using funds from another, without manually bridging
• Discover drops, track collections and tokens, and follow real-time onchain data and stats

To get started, all you need is a self-custodial crypto wallet. Learn more in How Does OpenSea Work?

Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial or trading advice. References to specific projects, products, services, trading strategies or tokens do not constitute an endorsement, sponsorship, or recommendation by OpenSea. OpenSea does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information presented, and readers should independently verify any claims made herein before acting on them. Readers are solely responsible for conducting their own due diligence before making any decisions.