OpenSea unveils SEA token and new version of its exchange

OpenSea finally confirms its token is coming and available to US residents days after screenshots swirled on Twitter

article-image

OpenSea and Adobe stock modified by Blockworks

share

OpenSea has finally confirmed the launch of a token, dubbed SEA, via the OpenSea Foundation. 

OpenSea is also releasing its OS2 open beta, the next iteration of its token marketplace, which will include memecoins as well as other tokens in addition to NFTs, the company announced Thursday.

The SEA token will be usable on OS2 and is intended to “recognize active and loyal users” as well as early adopters. OpenSea Foundation General Manager James Hu said the SEA token will support the Seaport Protocol and is a “major step” to support the OpenSea community.

SEA’s release date has not yet been announced, however.

OS2 is intended to be “an expansion toward fun-filled trading,” an OpenSea spokesperson told me. Before the open beta, OpenSea had an OS2 waitlist set up where users could join the private beta waitlist by connecting their wallet or entering their email address. OpenSea Genesis NFT holders also had access to the private beta if they held the NFT on Jan. 26. 

The OS2 private beta offered two main visual modes: Collector Mode or Pro Mode. 

Collector Mode presents a graphic-forward, colorful look that lets you see NFT art details, while Pro Mode shows small images with a data-heavy focus as well as analytics that show charts upfront with data over time.The open beta will also be for casual collectors and advanced users, Stephanie Rheingold, OpenSea director of marketing and communications, confirmed via email. 

Easy cross-chain purchases, aggregated marketplace listings, liquidity aggregators, live analytics and an improved search are just a few of OS2’s features that set it apart from its predecessor.

OS2 also has XP — gamerspeak for experience points — which can be earned by listing NFTs for sale and making collection-wide offers. XP is not a cryptocurrency or financial asset. It’s a non-transferable rewards feature, Rheingold said.

OpenSea confirmed the SEA token is coming just days after a few Crypto Twitter users shared links to an “OpenSea Foundation” website. The site, which no longer loads at the time of writing, showed a page to connect a crypto wallet with an image of a shipping container and the words: “Get ready to set sail,” according to multiple screenshots shared on social media. 

Some posts also claimed to summarize the Terms of Use on that site, noting that US residents would not be eligible and VPNs would be blocked to geo-fence the airdrop. While these restrictions have been the trend with some recent token launches (like Berachain), Rheingold told me the OpenSea Foundation has decided SEA will be available to US-based users. 

The verified OpenSea Foundation X account then responded to such posts earlier this week with the message: “None of the rumors on X today are true. Only trust links that we post from this account.”

OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer also responded to the screenshots indirectly: “Disappointed to see false rumors spreading,” he said in a post on Monday.

In a separate post, Finzer clarified: “There was some boilerplate language — not actual terms and conditions — on a test website for a short period of time. If it was official, the foundation would have linked to it.”

In 2023, OpenSea launched “OpenSea Pro,” another version of its NFT marketplace, that caters to “power traders” and Blur users.  


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Unlocked by Template (10).png

Research

Innovations on Aptos’ technical design through Raptr, Shardines, and Zaptos approach near-optimal latency and throughput by unlocking 100% utilization of network resources, with the capacity to settle 260k transactions per second with latencies less than 800ms. The original Move language was revamped with the launch of Move 2, supporting more expressivity in smart contract logic and a scalable ability to interact with high volume datasets. The ecosystem has benefitted from strong asset inflows, now hosting over $1.3B in stablecoins, $450M in bridged BTC, and $530M in RWAs. Activity in the Aptos ecosystem has grown notably over the past year, with monthly application revenue reaching ~$835k and monthly DEX volumes growing to over $5B, both at new all time highs.

article-image

The Stripe-acquired firm has big plans for a streamlined, multi-wallet future

article-image

Both founders of the former crypto lender have now landed in new crypto industry roles

article-image

Bitcoin’s recent peak is a victory lap for curvers left and right

article-image

Securitize CEO Carlos Domingo says institutions are eager to get exposure to tokenization

article-image

Trade isn’t war and prosperity isn’t a contest