Token trading has become OpenSea's new growth engine. Can it successfully transform under the expectation of coin issuance?

OpenSea is transforming to survive, with token trading now surpassing NFTs as its primary growth engine. On October 15th, token trading volume hit a record $474 million, dwarfing NFT volume which accounted for less than 2.9% of the total.

Business Shift: Token trading volume for the year has reached $3.55 billion, with $3.03 billion coming from the last 30 days alone. This surge has shifted the revenue structure, with tokens generating 56.8% of the year's total revenue.
User Base: The growth is driven by high-frequency trading from existing, repeat users rather than new user acquisition. On a sample day, 94.2% of active addresses were repeat users.
Transformation Strategy: OpenSea is building a full-chain integrated application (OS2) that supports NFTs, token swaps, and cross-chain purchases. Key strategies include:
- Integrating multiple blockchains like Base, Arbitrum, and Solana.
- Launching airdrop incentive programs (e.g., the "Treasure Chest" campaign) that have driven over $2 billion in cumulative trading volume.
- Acquiring Rally to expand mobile and cross-chain capabilities.
Future Outlook: Activity remains heavily driven by these incentives, with a planned Token Generation Event (TGE) details pending. The platform continues to evaluate historical user data to refine its reward strategy.

By Nancy, PANews

There's no doubt that the NFT market, after a brief period of prosperity, has entered a long period of adjustment. As the speculative frenzy subsided, numerous projects were shut down or eliminated from the market. Even OpenSea, once a major NFT trading giant, shifted from a "unicorn" to a "survival mode," with its multi-billion dollar valuation having already shrunk significantly amidst the industry's pain.

Faced with stagnant business growth and profit anxiety, OpenSea is actively seeking transformation. It is not only trying to transform itself into a full-chain integrated trading platform, but also re-attracting users and liquidity through airdrop incentives.

Token transactions surpass NFTs, with significant contributions from veteran users

OpenSea's business focus is accelerating from traditional NFT transactions to token transactions.

According to Dune data, OpenSea's trading volume remained low until April of this year, barely reaching a few million dollars per day, with the market still focused on traditional NFT trading. However, starting in mid-September, the platform's trading structure experienced a significant inflection point, with token trading volume rapidly climbing and surpassing NFTs for the first time. The gap has since widened, becoming the platform's new growth engine. On October 15th, OpenSea's token trading volume reached a record high of $474 million, while NFT trading volume on the same day was only $13.747 million, accounting for less than 2.9%, a significant disparity.

OpenSea's token trading volume has reached $3.55 billion so far this year, with $3.03 billion coming from the past 30 days, representing approximately 85.4% of the annual total. These transactions primarily originated from Base, Arbitrum, and Ethereum, with Base contributing particularly well. For example, on October 16th, the platform's total trading volume exceeded $470 million, with Base accounting for 58.2% of that day's total.

The surge in token trading has directly driven a shift in OpenSea's revenue structure. According to Dune data tracking, token trading generated approximately $25.5 million in revenue over the past 30 days, accounting for 56.8% of OpenSea's total revenue for the year (which totaled $44.9 million).

In contrast, the NFT market's overall transaction volume this year was only $1.82 billion, less than half of the total for token trading. Over the past 30 days, its revenue was approximately $5.57 million, far lower than the token sector. NFT transactions on October 15th were primarily distributed across Ethereum, Base, and Hyper-EVM.

It is worth noting that the significant increase in OpenSea's trading activity is not driven by new users, but by the high-frequency operations of existing users. Since the second half of 2025, the number of active addresses on the platform has begun to rise significantly, and the proportion of repeat users has remained high. For example, on October 13, the platform had 276,000 active addresses on that day, of which 94.2% were repeat users. This means that OpenSea's trading volume growth relies more on the re-engagement and high-frequency interaction of existing users rather than the expansion of new users.

Simply put, OpenSea's short-term explosive power comes from the high-frequency liquidity of the token trading market and the deep participation of old users.

To build a full-chain integrated application, use airdrop incentives to accelerate transformation

In July of this year, OpenSea announced that it would build a fully integrated application that would integrate NFT, tokens, and DeFi functions, aiming to provide users with a brand new experience. The launch of this strategic layout began several months ago.

In February 2025, OpenSea launched a comprehensive transformation, launching the public beta of its new platform, OS2. A completely redesigned product, OS2 features a brand new interface and search functionality, as well as collector and professional user modes. In addition to traditional NFT trading, the platform also supports token swaps and native cross-chain purchases, supports multiple blockchains, and promotes user engagement through a diverse incentive mechanism.

At the same time, OpenSea announced a token issuance plan to reward long-term supporters and OG users and promote sustainable development. According to the official explanation at the time, "The NFT bull market has changed us. We have become too corporate, too Web2, afraid of risks, and have ignored the original intention of building for users." This long-awaited news has also rekindled the attention of the market. After all, during the NFT bull market, the competitor Blur absorbed a large amount of OpenSea's market share by issuing tokens, which also made the market concerned about its token issuance.

To boost its token trading business, OpenSea is focusing on both product and technology. The platform integrates multiple blockchains, including Solana, HyperEVM, Base, Polygon, Arbitrum, and Sei, and collaborates deeply with applications like Uniswap, MetaMask, Meteora, and Coinbase Wallet to optimize the cross-chain trading experience. OpenSea also acquired Rally, introducing its mobile-first Web3 app and Rally Wallet, supporting token trading across 19 blockchains. The newly launched mobile app also natively integrates the AI tool "OpenSea Intelligence," enabling real-time cross-chain portfolio analysis and one-stop trading, providing users with intelligent asset management and trading experiences.

In terms of user traffic activation, OpenSea actively capitalized on market trends. For example, the platform capitalized on the NFTStrategy craze by launching related tokens and injecting 20 ETH into the reward pool to incentivize trading activity. An even more important driving factor was the airdrop incentive program. Last month, OpenSea announced the final phase of its pre-TGE rewards program and launched a "Treasure Chest" campaign. Users can earn rewards by upgrading their treasure chests through cross-chain transactions, daily tasks, and collecting supplies. The platform will allocate 50% of the fees to user incentives. Since the launch of the campaign, cumulative trading volume has exceeded $2 billion. Wave 1 has concluded, with a total value of $12.2 million in tokens and NFT rewards to be distributed. Wave 2 launched on October 15th and will end on November 15th. The initial prize pool includes $1 million in OP, SOMI, and ETH tokens. Therefore, the growth of OpenSea's trading activity is closely related to its airdrop and incentive program.

Of course, OpenSea has also continued to advance its NFT business during this period, including launching the NFT reserve plan OpenSea Flagship Collection, and plans to invest more than US$1 million to acquire historical and emerging NFTs to activate the vitality of the NFT market and enrich the platform ecology.

Currently, OpenSea's airdrop plan has not yet been fully implemented. Officials recently issued a notice reminding users to bind their EVM wallets to receive on-chain EVM rewards. In the short term, its market activity will continue to be driven by incentive mechanisms. It is worth noting that the OpenSea Foundation previously stated that it would announce the details of the TGE in early October. While this has not yet been released, officials have revealed that they are evaluating historical user usage data and transaction volumes from different years and will develop a more precise incentive strategy based on user profiles.