OpenSea Lays Off 20% of Staff

NFT marketplace OpenSea joins prominent crypto companies in cutting staff

article-image

Blockworks Exclusive Art by Axel Rangel

share

key takeaways

  • Devin Finzer says OpenSea will still have five years of runway
  • “The reality is that we have entered an unpreceded combination of crypto winter and broad macroeconomic instability.”

Co-founder and CEO of NFT marketplace OpenSea Devin Finzer announced on Twitter today that the company will be downsizing its staff by 20%.

“Each of the people leaving has played a critical role in OpenSea’s journey,” Finzer wrote. “The reality is that we have entered an unpreceded combination of crypto winter and broad macroeconomic instability, and we need to prepare the company for the possibility of a prolonged downturn.

OpenSea says that it will provide its laid-off employees with “generous severance, healthcare coverage in 2023, and accelerated equity vesting for those who haven’t hit their cliff.” Finzer noted he also plans to help departing staff with their job search through personal networks where possible.

The layoffs will place OpenSea in a position to maintain five years of runway through a crypto winter, according to Finzer. 

“With the hard (but important) changes we made today, we’re in an even better position to capture what will soon become the largest market on the planet…Winter is our time to build,” he wrote.

OpenSea joins a slew of prominent crypto companies scaling back headcounts during the bear market. 

The start of June saw crypto exchange Gemini let go of 100 employees — an estimated 10% of its staff — alongside Singaporean-based Crypto.com, which cut 5% of its workforce, a 260 headcount reduction. Weeks later, BlockFi shared the news that it will be slashing staff by 20%, and Coinbase announced it would lay off 18% of its employees. 

There had been indications that the most vulnerable times in crypto were over, earmarked by venture capital firms trickling money back into the space. OpenSea’s layoffs may suggest that the crypto winter is far from over.


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

Research Report Templates.png

Research

Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) represent low-hanging fruit in a massive market ripe for Web3-driven disruption. The global CDN market was valued at ~$28B in 2024, and is projected to surpass $140B by 2034, (18.75% CAGR) underscoring the immense demand for efficient content delivery.

article-image

With $30 million in funding and EverQuest’s creator at the helm, it’s possible, but not guaranteed

article-image

As Satoshi-era wallets saw over $8 billion worth of BTC on the move, Congress is gearing up for “Crypto Week”

article-image

Bitcoin’s runaway success was partly driven by Slashdot

article-image

Blockworks Research data shows that VC spending is back on the rise after a slow May

article-image

After rejecting a bid from the AI cloud-computing startup last year, Core Scientific agreed to be acquired in a deal expected to close by Q4 2025

article-image

Sponsored

Plume’s collaboration with TRON will unlock cross-chain RWA yield for one of the world’s largest blockchain ecosystems