The non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea has announced on November 3 that they are laying off employees. Co-founder and CEO Devin Finzer made the announcement on X (formerly Twitter), stating that the company is launching OpenSea 2.0 with a smaller team.
“Today, we are making significant changes to our organization and operations as we focus on building a leaner – and ultimately better – version of OpenSea. We deeply appreciate the contributions of those departing OpenSea and are supporting them with a robust package that includes both financial and non-financial support,” the spokesperson added.
About 50% of employees will be affected across all departments, with particular emphasis on reducing mid-level management. Employees will receive a severance package for four months, accelerated equity vesting, and continued healthcare and mental health support for six months.
The NFT collection market reached its peak in 2021. Since then, use cases like crypto assets, identity, and legal documents have become more common as the value of many collectibles has declined.
OpenSea faced significant community backlash in August when they announced they would stop using the “founder’s filter,” a feature that allowed creators to blacklist unauthorized copyright-infringing listings. Yuga Labs, the creator of the popular Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks NFTs, began phasing out their use of OpenSea’s Seaport marketplace smart contract in response.
Finzer mentioned in his X post, “As we rebuild, we’ll continue to support our existing products and will test and iterate on OpenSea 2.0 in public.” The company is currently recruiting for 12 positions on LinkedIn with starting salaries ranging from $90,000 to $270,000.