OpenSea is about to issue tokens, which may be the latest but most promising airdrop opportunity for you to participate. Last night, OpenSea announced that its upgraded platform OS 2 was officially launched, marking the countdown to the issuance of $SEA tokens. The official has made it clear that future airdrops will be distributed based on users historical contributions, current on-chain behavior, and XP points in the Voyages task system.
This article will help you quickly master how to complete OpenSea’s latest task update, covering basic operations such as gallery creation, cross-chain transactions, NFT purchases, and analyzing the incentive logic and platform transformation motivation behind $SEA.
Transformation to crypto asset trading and launch of token incentive program
On May 30, OpenSea officially ended its internal testing phase and released its new upgraded platform, OpenSea 2 (OS 2), to the public, marking a key step for the veteran NFT trading market to transform into a broader crypto asset ecosystem. The new platform currently supports token trading on 19 blockchains, with functions ranging from NFT minting to cross-chain token exchange, and simultaneously launched a user incentive system called Voyages.
Devin Finzer, co-founder and CEO of OpenSea, said in the announcement that OS2 is not a simple iteration, but the technical and experience foundation of the new generation of OpenSea. Finzer pointed out that the new platform aims to create a comprehensive trading platform that spans multiple chains and serves different communities. It is no longer limited to NFT transactions, but fully embraces various forms of on-chain assets, including standard tokens.
As an important part of this upgrade, OpenSea has also launched a new user incentive mechanism. Users will receive XP (experience points) after completing operations such as NFT display page creation, cross-chain transactions, and bulk purchases on the platform. These points will be used to redeem OpenSeas upcoming native token, $SEA.
Related reading: OpenSea has experienced seven years of ups and downs. The former No. 1 NFT exchange still chose to issue coins .
According to Adam Hollander, Chief Marketing Officer of OpenSea, the $SEA airdrop will be officially launched through TGE after a series of key product releases. Hollander said in his blog: We fully understand the communitys expectations for the $SEA airdrop, but this is not an ordinary token issuance, but a core event that determines the next stage of OpenSeas ecological mechanism.
At present, OpenSea has not announced the specific timetable for TGE, but it has made it clear that three types of behaviors will affect the users airdrop weight:
1. Historical contribution, i.e. the user’s past trading activity on OpenSea;
2. Current behavior, including actual usage on the new version of the platform, especially token trading related activities;
3. XP points obtained through the Voyages mission system.
It is worth noting that “Voyages” is not a simple task punching mechanism, but a reward system divided into five levels of rarity (common, uncommon, rare, epic, and legendary). Some advanced tasks will also unlock special reward items called “Treasures”, which will be recorded directly in the user’s profile page as a proof of their participation and contribution.
In addition, OpenSea also restructured its Discord community structure, trying to build it into a hub for Web3 user communication and feedback. According to the official introduction, the community channel has been greatly streamlined, and mechanisms such as identity grouping, topic interviews and real-time voice interaction have been introduced to enhance user stickiness and governance participation.
OpenSea said that OS 2 is only the first step in the platform transformation. In the future, it will continue to expand the supported chains, introduce more asset categories, and promote the deep integration of user incentives, community governance and platform economic models while ensuring the principle of decentralization. In the view of Devin Finzer, the launch of $SEA is not only a mechanism transition for OpenSea itself, but may also become an important watershed for Web3 applications to move from a single scenario to a diversified economic system.
Interactive Tutorial
Before the official launch of the SEA token TGE, OpenSea is actively encouraging users to deeply experience its new platform OS 2 through a series of interactive tasks. Starting from May 30, the official launched a new round of Voyages activities. Users can obtain XP points by completing on-chain interactive tasks and accumulate qualifications for future redemption of $SEA. This is also regarded as the core participation entrance before TGE, especially in the historical context of Blurs large-scale airdrops incentivized by trading behavior. The community generally has high expectations for OpenSeas rewards in this round.
The task flow of this update is relatively simple, suitable for all users to quickly get started:
Task 1: Create a personal gallery
After entering OpenSea OS 2, users can create their own NFT display page through the Gallery function. Simply upload the collection and edit the introduction to complete the task, which is the basic step to accumulate XP.
Task 2: Conduct on-chain token transactions
Completing a token exchange operation of no less than US$5 on the Solana chain (for example, SOL to USDC) has an extremely low fee of only about US$0.1, which helps to familiarize yourself with the cross-chain transaction experience of OS 2.
Task 3: Buy an NFT worth around $5
Choose any NFT with good liquidity and small price fluctuations to purchase. It is also recommended to complete it on the Solana chain, which can achieve both low cost and high efficiency.
Task 4: Social Interaction
Completing the tasks of liking and forwarding the officially designated content according to the activity requirements will help to simultaneously increase community participation.
It is worth mentioning that OpenSea used to charge account opening fees in the early days, and it carries the nostalgic memories of countless users who first entered Web3. With the precedent of Blur’s aggressive airdrops to gain market share, this round of $SEA issuance is considered to be a “cash-in” of OpenSea’s return to the community. As the event continues to be updated, community users have also expressed that they will create tutorials and share strategies around each round of tasks, and plan ahead to become potential winners of this round of airdrops.
The ups and downs of Opensea
After announcing the official launch of OS 2 and the upcoming launch of the token airdrop mechanism, OpenSea has once again returned to the spotlight of the crypto world. However, to understand why this NFT market maker, once valued at $13.3 billion, needs such a comprehensive self-reinvention, it is helpful to review its ups and downs over the past seven years.
Related reading: Success and failure are both due to NFT, the rise and fall of the company in the eyes of 18 OpenSea internal employees
The story of OpenSea began in the early days of blockchain in 2017. At that time, founders Devin Finzer and Alex Atallah were still exploring the idea of sharing Wi-Fi through cryptocurrency, until the popularity of CryptoKitties prompted them to rethink the potential of NFT. In early 2018, the two officially founded OpenSea and successfully obtained the first round of financing after joining Y Combinator. At that time, the NFT market was still wild, and OpenSea was once on par with competitors such as Rare Bits.
OpenSea did not have an easy journey in its early days. Before 2020, its platform transaction volume was always at the million-dollar level, and it relied on a streamlined team and a focused strategy to maintain operations. It was not until the NFT bull market arrived in 2021 that OpenSea saw explosive growth. That year, Beeples digital artwork was sold at a high price of US$69 million, and series such as Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) ignited market sentiment. OpenSeas monthly transaction volume exceeded US$3 billion in the summer of that year, and set a record high of US$5 billion in a single month at the end of the year.
OpenSea also entered its highlight moment. In 2021, a16z led a $100 million round of financing, which pushed its valuation to $1.5 billion. In early 2022, a new round of financing raised its valuation to $13.3 billion, making it the undisputed leader in the NFT market.
But what followed was a market recession and management difficulties. On the one hand, the popularity of NFTs has plummeted since the beginning of 2022. On the other hand, OpenSea has also been hit by negative news such as insider trading, downtime, and user security incidents, which has dealt a heavy blow to its reputation. More importantly, after Blur came out at the end of 2022, OpenSeas share in the professional trader market was rapidly eroded. Emerging platforms launched a vampire attack on OpenSea with lower fees, faster execution, and token incentives as weapons.
Since 2023, OpenSea has started layoffs and reorganizations in an attempt to reduce cost pressure and reorganize its product line. At that time, its market share had dropped from 95% at its peak to less than 30%. The original IPO plan was also stalled due to community opinion and regulatory pressure. Finzer finally decided to completely abandon the traditional technology company path and return to the origin of Web3 - issuing coins.
Once the news was announced, OpenSeas platform transaction volume saw a long-awaited surge. However, with the controversy over the airdrop mechanism, the enthusiasm for interaction brought about by the coin issuance quickly cooled.
The launch of SEA tokens is not just OpenSeas self-rescue, it means that after the platform has repeatedly struggled between the commercialization path and community trust, it has finally chosen to re-bind with users. The success or failure of this radical strategic reconstruction will determine whether OpenSea can rise again from silence, and will also reshape the future competitive landscape of the entire NFT market.
