OpenSea Acquires Dharma Labs

NFT platform and marketplace OpenSea has announced its acquisition of Dharma Labs, a decentralized finance startup, in a bid to expand its core offerings.

The acquisition has been rumored beforehand, with an estimated deal ranging between $110 million to $130 million, although OpenSea itself has not disclosed any financial details about the acquisition’s terms. Currently operating with an estimated valuation of $13.3 billion after a recently closed funding round led by Paradigm and Coatue which netted $300 million, OpenSea ranks as one of the largest and most active NFT platforms in the crypto industry. According to OpenSea, the acquisition is aimed at extending its current strategies for expansion in the NFT and Web3 space.

"Our teams share a vision that NFTs will be the cultural focal point of crypto's adoption for years to come — and that vision can only be realized if using NFTs becomes easy & delightful for the average person," shares Devin Finzer, a co-founder at OpenSea.

The acquisition will find Dharma co-founder Nadav Hollander taking on a new role as CTO. Hollander has previously worked at Coinbase and Google as a senior software engineer. Nadav will be tasked to improve the technical reliability and uptime of OpenSea’s current product lineup, as well as to begin the development of Web3-native mechanisms aimed at engaging and rewarding the OpenSea community.

"Nadav’s impact will be wide-reaching, but his initial mandate will be two core priorities: improving the technical reliability and uptime of our products, and building web3-native mechanisms for engaging with and rewarding our early and loyal community," Finzer shared.

Brendan Forster, Dharma Labs’ COO and co-founder, will likewise join OpenSea as its new Head of Strategy, developing its business, community, and marketing strategies through his insights from a Web3-native perspective.

“We will be bringing our knowledge, expertise, and technology to OpenSea in order to power a mainstream-friendly way to buy, sell, and mint NFTs. Together, we will push forward the NFT industry.” Dharma Labs said in a blog post.

Dharma Labs’ work has enabled users to interact with DeFi applications, providing a seamless user experience for lending and swapping tokens. With the acquisition, Dharma Labs will be sunsetting its web app. The startup has also advised its users to withdraw or sell their funds at no cost, with a deadline set for 18 February, 2022.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.