OpenSea regains its dominance in the NFT market, driven by the SEA Token effect and platform upgrades that promote rise.

In February 2025, OpenSea reached a turning point. Its market share skyrocketed from 25.5% to 71.5% in just one week, completely reclaiming dominance from its competitor Blur.

This amazing comeback is largely attributed to the release effect of its native token SEA, which caused the platform's daily NFT trading volume to soar from $3.47 million to $17.4 million, an increase of nearly 5 times.

Market Share Reversal: The Strong Comeback of OpenSea

Once suppressed by competitors, OpenSea has made a triumphant return to dominate the NFT market in the first quarter of 2025. According to data tracking by NFTScan, OpenSea accounted for over 40% of the market trading volume in the past 30 days.

Its largest competitor, Blur, has a market share of 23%, while Magic Eden and OKX NFT hold market shares of 7.69% and 5%, respectively. This means that OpenSea's market share is nearly twice that of its strongest competitor.

Even more astonishing is the comparison of user bases: over the past month, nearly 70% of NFT trading wallets chose to use OpenSea, totaling more than 610,000. In the same period, the three major platforms Magic Eden, Blur, and OKX NFT combined attracted only 103,000 wallets, with a total market share of just 17%.

Token Effect Takes Off: SEA Becomes the Core Engine of Growth

OpenSea's ability to achieve such a rapid turnaround is largely attributed to its native token SEA. Since the official announcement on February 13 confirming the issuance of the SEA token and its airdrop to users, the platform's trading volume has surged.

After the token announcement, OpenSea's daily trading volume reached $17.4 million, an increase of nearly 5 times compared to the $3.47 million in the 5 days before the announcement. Not only has the trading amount significantly increased, but the number of transactions on the platform has also soared.

The average daily trading volume surged from 6,100 transactions before the announcement to 14,700 transactions, demonstrating a significant rebound in user activity. U.S. users can also participate in the airdrop without needing to undergo KYC verification, which lowers the barriers to participation and further drives growth.

Platform Upgrade and Technological Innovation: Market Strategy Beyond Trading

In addition to the token effect, the continuous technological upgrades and platform optimizations implemented by OpenSea are also key factors in regaining market favor. In the fourth quarter of 2024, OpenSea will begin promoting the release of its new platform OS2.

OpenSea co-founder and CEO Devin Finzer stated at the time that the company would "reimagine everything" and officially launched the OS2 public beta to the public on February 13. According to the latest data, the new OS2 platform's traffic has increased by 44% year-on-year, with multi-chain support becoming its competitive advantage.

On April 19, the platform announced that it would open Solana trading features to all users, allowing them to trade Solana tokens, including popular meme coins like Bonk and Ai16z. This move further enhances the appeal of OpenSea's multi-chain ecosystem.

Market Environment and Future Outlook: The New Development Stage of NFTs

Despite OpenSea's strong performance, the overall environment of the NFT market presents a complex picture. In the first quarter of 2025, NFT sales reached $1.5 billion, a 61% decrease compared to the same period in 2024.

But some indicators show that NFTs continue to attract the interest of many traders. CryptoSlam data shows that over 359,000 NFT buyers have participated in the past seven days, an increase of 52% compared to the previous week.

The market is undergoing a profound transformation: NFTs are shedding the label of "sky-high speculation" and shifting towards a significant democratization movement. The trading of top projects that used to command hundreds of ETH has sharply declined, replaced by a surge of small, high-frequency participation from ordinary users.

The simultaneous increase in sales volume and decrease in average transaction value marks a shift in market dynamics from pure speculation to a pursuit of actual utility and community consensus. RWA (Real World Assets) projects put assets such as real estate and bonds on the blockchain, providing a "yield-generating" attribute that attracts stable funds.

With the testing and launch of several major Web3 games, NFT assets within these games are expected to maintain high trading momentum. These trends provide new development opportunities for platforms like OpenSea.

Future Outlook

The airdrop expectations for SEA tokens have sparked market enthusiasm, but the revival of OpenSea is not solely due to this. The launch of its new platform OS2, the expansion of multi-chain support, and the addition of Solana trading features together create a more open and efficient trading environment.

Market data shows that NFTs are gradually moving away from the past frenzy of speculation and entering a new stage that emphasizes practical value and community consensus. With the development of niche sectors such as RWA and GameFi, platforms like OpenSea are expected to find a more resilient and lasting foothold in a market focused on value return.