Talk:OpenSea

Redirection to NFT page
User:David_Gerard Why did you redirect this page to the NFT page? OpenSea is a marketplace for NFTs, it is not synonymous with the subject.

There is also a ton of news coverage on OpenSea, it stands on its own as a notable subject: https://www.google.com/search?q=opensea&tbm=nws

Salsakesh (talk) 02:47, 25 November 2021 (UTC)


 * Because the RS coverage was absolutely trivial, and most of the news coverage was crypto sites, or fundraising rounds (which fail WP:CORPDEPTH). There was even one IP trying to edit-war a version that was almost entirely sourced to crypto sites.
 * Nothing precludes us writing a good version based solidly on mainstream RSes, that isn't just fundraising - David Gerard (talk) 08:51, 25 November 2021 (UTC)


 * In a quick search of finance papers just now, I found mostly passing mentions and fundraising rounds, and an insider trading scandal was the actual news coverage - David Gerard (talk) 09:06, 25 November 2021 (UTC)

Translation attribution
This article appears to be a translation from another language in Wikipedia. : Is that the case? Which was the source language? Thank you! MarioGom (talk) 10:54, 15 January 2022 (UTC)


 * Hi, why do you say so? The content that I contributed was written by me and not sourced from any other languages.
 * Salsakesh (talk) 03:26, 16 January 2022 (UTC)
 * I mention this because this French version from 6 November 2021] is similar to the current text of this article. But now I realized that the similar text was introduced by another user at . Sorry for the confusion. Note that it's ok to translate, but it needs to be attributed. MarioGom (talk) 09:16, 16 January 2022 (UTC)


 * I intend to rewrite the whole thing so the copied content will definitely be removed. elijahpepe@wikipedia 18:13, 3 February 2022 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Research Process and Methodology - FA22 - Sect 200 - Thu
— Assignment last updated by BL33701 (talk) 02:14, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

Request for infobox update
Hi there, I work with the comms team at OpenSea and I'd like to propose a few updates to this article, beginning with the infobox where I have two small suggested changes in the Key people category:


 * Remove Brian Roberts (CFO): Right now Brian Roberts is listed as CFO. Mr. Roberts actually left that role last October.
 * Add Shiva Rajaraman as CBO: Shiva Rajaraman is now CBO, with that role replacing CFO at OpenSea.

Since I work for OpenSea I won't be making these updates, but I'm hoping editors watching this page can help me out. Thanks! OpenSeaSam (talk) 16:15, 15 September 2023 (UTC)
 * ✅ Spintendo  22:09, 16 September 2023 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the assist here, Spintendo. Much appreciated! OpenSeaSam (talk) 23:48, 18 September 2023 (UTC)

Request for History section update
Hi there, Sam with OpenSea here. I'm back with another request, this time about slightly reworking the beginning of the History section.

Right now the first sentence in this section says "In 2017, Devin Finzer and Alex Atallah, Inspired by the release of CryptoKitties, founded OpenSea." The sentence is supported by a citation to a Forbes interview with OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer.

The immediate problem here is obviously the typo, as "Inspired" shouldn't be capitalized. But the sentence also fails to explain to readers why CryptoKitties was relevant to the founding of the company.

I took a stab at rewording this passage and adding further details about how CryptoKitties was a proof of concept that crypto assets could be bought and sold in a marketplace arrangement, and how that proposition helped OpenSea attract initial interest and investors. I kept the existing Forbes citation but also added additional sources since the Forbes article is structured as a Q&A interview and thus doesn't seem to be ideal as a cited source. Here is my revision, which I hope reads as much more encyclopedic than the current version:

Devin Finzer and Alex Atallah founded OpenSea in December 2017. They were inspired by CryptoKitties, a blockchain-based game featuring non-fungible tokens that had been released earlier that year. Finzer and Atallah believed that OpenSea could be a marketplace for buying NFT tokens like these at scale. They entered Y Combinator's accelerator program in 2018, where OpenSea was described as a "peer-to-peer marketplace for cryptogoods".

I'd also like to propose adding a second paragraph that would further detail OpenSea's early growth, which has been extensively documented by contemporaneous reporting and business profiles in major publications (see examples here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here). Given the weight of this coverage, it seems worth including these details in the History section, as they reflect a significant period of expansion in the company's timeline. I thus put together three short sentences that capture this growth:

In March 2020, the platform had 4,000 active users completing $1.1 million in transactions a month. By July 2021, users were completing $350 million in transactions a month and the company was valued at $1.5 billion after a $100 million Series B venture round led by Andreessen Horowitz. In August 2021, the value of monthly transactions spiked to $3.4 billion, and in November OpenSea had 1.8 million active users.

I believe readers will find these figures to be useful context for the later decline in transactions (which is discussed at the end of the section). Again, this same quantitative narrative is presented repeatedly in news coverage from major publications (Insider, BBC, Information, Fortune, VentureBeat, et cetera), and it seems encyclopedic to include it here.

Per my earlier disclosure, I work with the comms team at OpenSea, which is why I'm proposing these updates on the Talk page rather than trying to edit directly. I'm hoping editors can again review my requests and let me know if these changes represent an improvement and can be implemented. OpenSeaSam (talk) 15:00, 26 October 2023 (UTC)

Reply 26-OCT-2023
When ready to proceed with the revised request, kindly submit it below, in a new reply post at your earliest convenience — taking care to affix a new template, or altering the one above to read from y to n. Regards,  Spintendo  00:05, 27 October 2023 (UTC)
 * 1) If by opening paragraph you're referring to the lead section, those sections are usually devoid of references, in that the lead section ought to exist as a summary of information provided and referenced in the body of the article.(See MOS:CITELEAD.) I would suggest rewriting the lead section so that it follows that format.
 * 2) Your request includes several instances where more than one reference is bundled at the end of sections of text. Ordinarily that would signify that both (or more) of those sources all verify the same information. If this is the case here, then those references need to be condensed. If the references are verifying different aspects of a sentence, then the guidelines at WP:INTEGRITY need to be followed.


 * Hi Spintendo, thanks for the reply. I took a shot at implementing your requests below. Please let me know what you think. OpenSeaSam (talk) 14:50, 31 October 2023 (UTC)

Updated History section update request
Hi there, Sam with OpenSea here again. I've attempted to revise the request I posted above in order to address and implement feedback from Spintendo. To be clear, both of my suggested updates are for the beginning of the History section.

Here's my first request, which involves adding new material to the first paragraph of the History section:

Devin Finzer and Alex Atallah founded OpenSea in December 2017. They were inspired by CryptoKitties, a blockchain-based game featuring non-fungible tokens that had been released earlier that year. Finzer and Atallah believed that OpenSea could be a marketplace for buying NFT tokens like these at scale. They entered Y Combinator's accelerator program in 2018, where OpenSea was described as a "peer-to-peer marketplace for cryptogoods".

As you can see, I removed the Forbes citation entirely so there was no confusion about matching factual claims to specific sources. Again, the idea here is that this paragraph would effectively replace the existing one.

Here's my request for a brand new second paragraph of the History section that would further detail OpenSea's early growth:

In March 2020, the platform had 4,000 active users completing $1.1 million in transactions a month. By July 2021, users were completing $350 million in transactions a month, and the company was valued at $1.5 billion after a $100 million Series B venture round led by Andreessen Horowitz. In August 2021, the value of monthly transactions spiked to $3.4 billion, and in November OpenSea had 1.8 million active users.

I slightly moved one citation here but this request is otherwise the same as in my previous post. And again, this would be a brand new paragraph that follows the revised first paragraph discussed above.

Once again, I work with the comms team at OpenSea and will limit my involvement here to making requests on the Talk page. I'm hoping editors can again review my requests and let me know if these changes represent an improvement and can be implemented. OpenSeaSam (talk) 14:51, 31 October 2023 (UTC)

Reply 31-OCT-2023
Regards, Spintendo  01:51, 1 November 2023 (UTC)
 * I've implemented these two paragraphs into the History section. There was a paragraph in the lead section which did not belong there; I've integrated that into the history section as well. The section was not exactly in chronological order, so that has been corrected as best as possible. In two instances (one already existing in the article and one from the latest edit request) I've had to place a inline maintenance template because the language was described in a manner (i.e., "Open Sea has been described as", etc.) that left this open to question.


 * Many thanks for the assistance with this, Spintendo. I'm about to post a new request that will hopefully resolve the chronology and attribution errors you flagged, and also clarify claims related to "insider trading." I'm hoping you can take a look at this new request as well. Really appreciate your thorough reviews and actionable feedback. I wasn't sure what to expect when I started posting here, and it's been reassuring to find editors like you who are willing to help with COI requests provided guidelines are followed. OpenSeaSam (talk) 17:42, 7 November 2023 (UTC)

New History section update request
Hello again, Sam with OpenSea here. Following the implementation of my previous request by Spintendo—and the movement of several sentences from the article introduction to the body of the History section—there are now a few chronological deviations and duplicate claims that I'd like to correct in the interest of being comprehensive. I also wanted to correct the two attribution errors that Spintendo flagged, as well as to offer a revision of the fourth paragraph.

Devin Finzer and Alex Atallah founded OpenSea in December 2017. They were inspired by CryptoKitties, a blockchain-based game featuring non-fungible tokens that had been released earlier that year. Finzer and Atallah believed that OpenSea could be a marketplace for buying NFT tokens like those at scale. Y Combinator accepted OpenSea into its accelerator program in 2018, and in an announcement described the startup as a "peer-to-peer marketplace for cryptogoods".

As you can see, I reworded the Y Combinator sentence so that it's clear that it's Y Combinator describing OpenSea as a "peer-to-peer marketplace for cryptogoods". The paragraph is otherwise exactly the same, so presumably you could just take what I put together above and paste it over the top of the current first paragraph.

After finishing the pre-seed round by Y Combinator, OpenSea raised $2.1 million in venture capital in November 2019.

In March 2020, the platform had 4,000 active users completing $1.1 million in transactions a month. By July 2021, users were completing $350 million in transactions a month, and the company was valued at $1.5 billion—meaning unicorn status—after a $100 million Series B venture round led by Andreessen Horowitz. In August 2021, the value of monthly transactions spiked to $3.4 billion, and in November OpenSea had 1.8 million active users.

In the current article there are duplicate claims about the Andreessen Horowitz investment, so I cut out the first mention and moved the "unicorn" claim to the second mention. I also added a source to the currently uncited "OpenSea raised $2.1 million" sentence.

Again, these two paragraphs can be pasted over the top of the second and third paragraphs in the current article if editors believe these changes are improvements.

On September 14 of that same year, Nate Chastain, the then-head of product at OpenSea, was accused of trading with insider information, as users noted that he was purchasing NFTs just before they were featured on the platform's homepage. The next day OpenSea acknowledged the accusations and launched an internal review. On September 16, OpenSea announced that Chastain had resigned. In May 2023, Chastain was convicted of fraud and money laundering in federal court and later sentenced to three months in prison.

My changes here are more substantial so I invite editors to review them closely. This paragraph actually combines language from the current fourth and twelfth paragraphs. The twelfth paragraph is the one that begins "In June 2022, former OpenSea product manager Nathaniel Chastain…." Because the claims and dates here are all closely linked to the initial incident, it made sense to consolidate everything. I also added a few more details and removed the insider trading hyperlink, since that article is clearly referring to the trading of securities, which NFTs are obviously not. The cited TechCrunch article refers to "trading with insider information," so that's the language I used here.

If these changes seem reasonable, the collapsed paragraph above can be pasted over the current fourth paragraph and then the twelfth paragraph ("In June 2022…") can be removed.

In January 2022, the company was valued at $13.3 billion and was described by The New York Times as being "one of the most talked-about blockchain start-ups in Silicon Valley". The daily trading volume on the OpenSea marketplace reached $2.7 billion on May 1, 2022, but four months later had dropped by 99%.

Spintendo had added a "by whom" tag to the "described as the largest non-fungible token marketplace" claim, and I looked through the cited sources and couldn't find that particular language. So I went ahead and swapped that description for the "one of the most talked-about blockchain start-ups in Silicon Valley" quote from the New York Times.

As with the other requests, this one can be implemented by simply pasting the collapsable draft over the top of the current copy.

I apologize for proposing so many changes in this single post. It just made sense to cover several paragraphs at once here since there have been recent edits that changed this material. I'll try to keep future requests shorter!

Thank you again for looking this over. I know Wikipedia is a volunteer project and that you're all taking time out of your normal editing activity to respond to me. OpenSeaSam (talk) 17:43, 7 November 2023 (UTC)


 * I have implemented the first two suggestions as they seem to help content flow in the article, however I will have to further review the third and fourth suggestion. Thanks! :) Eteethan (talk) 07:49, 9 November 2023 (UTC)
 * I have implemented the third suggestion, but have slightly revised the first paragraph to make it clear that he was profiting, as per sources. I have also restored the mention of insider trading - as the Reuters article shows, "Nathaniel Chastain, 33, was convicted of fraud and money laundering in federal court in Manhattan in May for what prosecutors called the first insider trading case involving digital assets." Eteethan (talk) 08:01, 9 November 2023 (UTC)
 * ✅: Added the fourth suggestion - I was also unable to find a reliable source for that claim. Eteethan (talk) 08:08, 9 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Thank you much for the assist on this, Eteethan. Really appreciate your thorough review. For the record, I still don't think "insider trading" is the correct description, as NFTs are not securities. But I do understand that the Reuters source uses that term, so it makes sense from a Wikipedia perspective that you would choose to keep it. I'm learning a lot about this site + content guidelines through the process of researching these requests, so please bear with me. I hope to have another History section request soon that I'm hoping you, Spintendo, or another editor active here can review. Thanks again. OpenSeaSam (talk) 17:03, 13 November 2023 (UTC)

Another History section request
Hello again, Wikipedia editors. I'm back with another request about the History section. As promised, this one is shorter and more straightforward than my last batch of requests. I'm specifically looking to update the eighth paragraph, which is about the "free minting tool."

Right now the free minting paragraph states that OpenSea "admitted that 80% of NFTs created with the tool were plagiarism or spam." Articles in Engadget and Vice are the cited sources, and both articles attribute the 80% figure to a social media post from OpenSea.

Unfortunately, the way that percentage was framed in the OpenSea social post was incorrect, as 80% of the NFTs created with the tool WERE NOT plagiarism or spam. Rather, it was 80% of the NFTs that were removed from OpenSea for violations that were created using the tool. OpenSea quickly offered a correction, but by then several articles had already been published with the incorrect wording, including the aforementioned Engadget and Vice pieces. Thankfully, subsequent reporting in outlets like The Verge used the correct framing ("In February, OpenSea said that over 80 percent of items it removed for violations were created with its free minting tool.")

Given this context, I've put together an updated eighth paragraph that uses the correct framing around the 80% figure and cites the newer Verge source:

On January 27, 2022, OpenSea announced it would limit how many NFTs a user could create using the free minting tool. The following day, OpenSea reversed the decision. The company stated that its initial decision was based on concern about theft, plagiarism, and spam, as 80% of the NFTs removed from OpenSea for violations were minted using the tool.

My normal disclosure: My name is Sam and I work for OpenSea. As such, I won't be making any direct edits to the article, and am instead hopeful that editors can review my requests and implement them if they judge them to be an improvement. Truly grateful for your assistance here. OpenSeaSam (talk) 21:54, 16 November 2023 (UTC)


 * Spintendo 01:06, 17 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Appreciate the assist on this, Spintendo. OpenSeaSam (talk) 19:30, 17 November 2023 (UTC)

New History section request
Hello again, editors! I'm back with another request. I'm hoping to replace the current ninth paragraph (about the phishing attack) in the History section with the following:

On February 19, 2022, some OpenSea users reported that their NFTs had disappeared from their wallets. That same day, OpenSea responded that these users were likely targeted as part of a phishing attack. On February 20, The Verge reported that hundreds of NFTs were stolen from OpenSea users, causing a panic among the site's community of users. The estimated value of the stolen tokens was more than $1.7 million. According to OpenSea, only 17 users actually lost tokens, while 15 others interacted with the attacker but did not lose tokens. The attack was reported to have involved an exploit in the Wyvern Platform.

The majority of my edits here are just clarifying information, adding citations, and reducing clutter. But I do want to direct editors' attention to one key change: I removed the line "The company denied rumors the source of the theft was its website, its listing systems, emails from the company, or an upgraded contract system" because discussing "rumors" about where the attack may have originated from doesn't seem relevant when the actual origin (a phishing campaign) is well documented and clearly identified in this paragraph.

I also moved the clause about the Wyvern Platform exploit ("via an exploit in the Wyvern Platform") to the end of the paragraph and expanded it into a full sentence. To be clear, this claim is not accurate, as there was no "exploit" in Wyvern. But alas, the initial reporting in The Verge included this wording ("The attack appears to have exploited a flexibility in the Wyvern Protocol, the open-source standard underlying most NFT smart contracts, including those made on OpenSea"), which was then repeated in reporting from Insider (the current cited source), Engadget, and other outlets. I wish I could point to subsequent reporting that refuted this rumor or provided more technical documentation as to what actually happened, but alas I can't find anything. Is the fact that The Verge reporting says the attack "appears to have" involved Wyvern enough to remove it?

Please let me know what you think, and thank you again for your time here in reviewing this request. OpenSeaSam (talk) 21:19, 4 December 2023 (UTC)
 * Please include as well the verbatim text of the paragraph that you would like removed/replaced. You can place that paragraph (and all of its references) below this reply post. When ready, switch the template's answer parameter to read from y to n. Thank you! Regards,  Spintendo  03:20, 5 December 2023 (UTC)
 * Does this work, Spintendo?

On February 19, 2022, some users began to report that some of their NFTs disappeared. OpenSea later revealed a phishing attack had taken place on its platform via an exploit in the Wyvern Platform. The company denied rumors the source of the theft was its website, its listing systems, emails from the company, or an upgraded contract system. The next day, The Verge reported that hundreds of NFTs were stolen from OpenSea users causing a huge panic among the platform community. The estimated value of the stolen tokens is more than $1.7 million. According to OpenSea, only 32 users had been affected. OpenSea later revised its statement to note that 17 users were directly affected, while the other 15 users had interacted with the attacker but had not lost tokens as a result.


 * I'm not sure if I formatted this correctly. Please let me know, thanks. OpenSeaSam (talk) 15:57, 6 December 2023 (UTC)

Reply 7-DEC-2023
Here's what the text looks like when it's aligned (we're more easily able to see what is being removed this way):

Please specify what the reasons are for the text being omitted... is it unreferenced, inaccurate, etc. Thank you! Regards, Spintendo  03:49, 7 December 2023 (UTC)


 * Hi Spintendo. I omitted the two lines in question because in both cases the claims reflected early speculation that was quickly supplanted by factual documentation. The "company denied rumors" line discusses initial "rumors" about where the attack may have originated from, which doesn't seem relevant when the actual origin (a phishing campaign) is well documented and clearly identified in this paragraph. Likewise, the initial "32 users" claim was soon clarified to "17 users lost tokens, while 15 interacted with the attacker but did not lose tokens." Again, this is early reporting based on speculation being replaced by later reporting based on facts. OpenSeaSam (talk) 17:00, 8 December 2023 (UTC)
 * Noting that I switched the Edit COI template's answer parameter back to "no." OpenSeaSam (talk) 18:14, 15 December 2023 (UTC)
 * I omitted the first claim in the section above, because as Sam noted, these were comments made by the company in response to rumors. The second section According to Open Sea, only 32 users had been affected was retained because these were statements (not rumors) that the company initially made (and later revised) which is already noted in the prose (OpenSea later revised its statement...). Regards, Spintendo  00:42, 19 December 2023 (UTC)
 * Hi Spintendo, thanks for your help here. Your explanation makes sense. One small thing, though... can we make the following tense change to the third sentence: "The estimated value of the stolen tokens is more than $1.7 million" to "The estimated value of the stolen tokens was more than $1.7 million." Thanks! OpenSeaSam (talk) 15:06, 28 December 2023 (UTC)
 * ✅ Spintendo  15:52, 28 December 2023 (UTC)

Another History section update request
Hi again, Wikipedia, Sam with OpenSea here. I'm back with another request, this time about the tenth paragraph of the History section, which concerns the March 2022 sanctions news.

Here's the current tenth paragraph, which is actually just one sentence:

In March 2022, OpenSea announced that it would block accounts subject to United States sanctions.

The citation link doesn't appear to work. And the language is also misleading, in that it makes it seem as though OpenSea announced that it would begin blocking these accounts in March 2022. The Fortune article (correct link here) makes it clear that OpenSea merely confirmed that the company's policy had always been to block users in countries that are subject to U.S. government sanctions. As such, I'm hoping we could slightly reword to the following:

In March 2022, OpenSea confirmed that it was blocking accounts in countries that are subject to United States sanctions.

My normal disclosure: I won't be making any direct edits to the article, and am instead hopeful that editors can review my requests and make the updates if they seem like improvements. Thank you again. OpenSeaSam (talk) 15:06, 28 December 2023 (UTC)
 * ✅ Regards, Spintendo  15:57, 28 December 2023 (UTC)
 * Thank you for your help here, Spintendo. Very much appreciate your thoughtful reviews and continued assistance with these updates. OpenSeaSam (talk) 19:21, 5 January 2024 (UTC)

Brand new History section update request
Sam with OpenSea here, back again with another request. This time I'm addressing the twelfth paragraph of the History section, which covers the June 2022 data breach.

Here's the existing paragraph:

On 30 June 2022 OpenSea reported a massive email data breach after a Customer.io staff member misused his employee access to download and share the email addresses of OpenSea's users. Over 1.8 million email addresses are said to have been leaked.

The information in this paragraph is all correct, but the wording is a little sloppy and the link to the cited TechCrunch article doesn't work. (The correct url is here.) I took a stab at slightly rewording the paragraph and updating the citations:

On 30 June 2022 OpenSea disclosed that a major data breach had occurred when a senior engineer at an email vendor, Customer.io, misused his employee access to download and share OpenSea user email addresses. Over 1.8 million email addresses were reportedly leaked. Customer.io later revealed that five other clients were also impacted by the employee's data theft.

Summary of my edits:
 * First sentence: The cited TechCrunch article never uses the adjective "massive" to describe the data breach, so I replaced that word with "major" (which does appear in the piece). I also changed "staff member" to "senior engineer" since the TC reporting does confirm that role. My other edits to this sentence are just minor rewordings for clarity.
 * Second sentence: Again, minor rewordings for clarity.
 * Third sentence: I added a new sentence noting that other companies were also impacted by the data breach.

My normal disclosure: I won't be making any direct edits to the article, and am instead hopeful that editors can review my request and make the updates if they seem like improvements. Thank you again. OpenSeaSam (talk) 19:22, 5 January 2024 (UTC)


 * This looks good. I agree with "major" vs "massive," as the latter sounds very POV to me. I'm not sure about the other companies, as it seems a bit like coatracking, but I think I can include something there. --FeldBum (talk) 20:44, 5 January 2024 (UTC)
 * Many thanks for the help with this request, FeldBum. I'm about to post a new update suggestion about the Funding subsection that I'm hoping you or other editors can review. OpenSeaSam (talk) 18:09, 17 January 2024 (UTC)

Funding subsection update request
Hi Wikipedia editors. Sam with OpenSea here, back again with another request, this time about the Funding subsection.

Right now the the last entry in the table notes that OpenSea received funding in January 2022:

Could we do a slight update here to specify that the January 2022 funding was Series C? The cited NYT article doesn't state this, so I replaced it with a TechCrunch article that does and updated the Notes parameter to include the Series C description:

Making this edit would align the description of the January 2022 funding round with that of the March 2021 (Series A) and July 2021(Series B) notes.

My normal disclosure: I won't be making any direct edits to the article, and am instead hopeful that editors can review my request and make the updates if they seem like improvements. Thank you again. OpenSeaSam (talk) 18:10, 17 January 2024 (UTC)


 * Pinging FeldBum,  Spintendo, and any other editors watching this page to see if they can review this request, which I'm hoping is pretty straightforward. Thanks! OpenSeaSam (talk) 21:51, 1 February 2024 (UTC)
 * Yep, I'll take a look. This looks fine to me at first glance, but I'll check. FeldBum (talk) 22:03, 6 February 2024 (UTC)
 * Done @OpenSeaSam --FeldBum (talk) 03:57, 8 February 2024 (UTC)