OpenSea Unveils SEA Token and ‘Historically Significant’ NFT Collection
Date: 2025-09-10 Author: Oliver Abernathy Categories: CRYPTO PAYMENTS
OpenSea, a pioneer in the NFT marketplace, has announced the launch of its native token SEA, details of which will be released in October 2025. At the same time, the company announced the launch of a mobile app and the creation of a special reserve collection, including “historically significant NFTs” and works by emerging artists.
The first acquisition for the collection was CryptoPunk 5273, purchased in late August for 65 ETH (about $282,948). OpenSea CMO Adam Hollander noted that each new acquisition will be accompanied by an explanation of the reasons for adding it to the collection.
OpenSea launched in December 2017 under the leadership of Devin Finzer and Alex Atallah and has long been a leading platform for NFT trading. At the beginning of 2022, the platform's monthly turnover reached $5 billion, while in August 2025 the figure was about $230 million. Over the years of its operation, OpenSea has earned almost $1 billion in user fees.
The idea of its own token has been discussed by the team since 2020, but the launch was postponed, possibly due to regulatory pressure. In 2024, OpenSea, like many other crypto platforms, attracted the attention of the SEC in the United States for trading unregistered securities. After the change of the presidential administration, the investigation was closed in February 2025.
The NFT market, which experienced a surge in popularity in 2021-2022, has shown a decline in activity in recent years. Thus, the number of active traders on the Ethereum network, which at the beginning of 2022 exceeded 70 thousand per day, decreased to several thousand by September 2025. Trading volumes have similarly declined: according to The Block, weekly turnover across 14 blockchain networks has reached around $100 million, while at their peak, figures exceeded billions of dollars.
The creation of new NFTs has also fallen: on Ethereum, more than 400,000 tokens were minted daily in 2022, but by early September 2025, this figure had dropped to less than 2,000 per day.
Despite the decline in market activity, interest in NFTs remains, and the launch of the SEA token, along with the OpenSea reserve collection, could stimulate a new wave of interest from both collectors and aspiring artists. New tools and a mobile app promise to simplify access to the platform and expand its audience.
As such, OpenSea continues to strengthen its position in the NFT world, combining innovation with the preservation of the historical value of digital objects.
