Tiger Global marks down stakes in BAYC, OpenSea: Bloomberg

Following layoffs at BAYC parent Yuga Labs and OpenSea, Tiger Global marked down its stakes

December 1, 2023 01:38 pm

Tada Images/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

Tiger Global reportedly marked down stakes in Bored Ape Yacht Club and OpenSea by 69% and 94% respectively, according to Bloomberg.

Tiger Global manages around $50 billion. It recorded an 18% paper loss in its largest fund at the end of September, the report states.

Both OpenSea and BAYC parent company Yuga Labs cut jobs as part of restructuring earlier this fall. Yuga’s cuts impacted US teams, leaving over 120 employees at the company. Yuga, in March 2022, was valued at $4 billion.

OpenSea cut around 50% of its workforce, a spokesperson confirmed to Blockworks at the time. The cuts came after a round of layoffs last year which saw the NFT marketplace slash 20% of its workforce.

OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer said that the platform would be “shifting to a smaller team with a direct connection to users.” At its peak in 2022, OpenSea was valued at $13 billion.

Both companies have been impacted by the slump in the NFT market, which has not bounced back following its 2022 peak.

A JPMorgan report from Nov. 30 found that there has been a “positive impact” on both the NFT and DeFi spaces following the speculation around potential spot bitcoin ETF approvals.

However, as analyst Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou notes, “While we do not doubt this recent revival in DeFi/NFT activity is a positive sign, we believe it is too early to be getting excited about it.”

Panigirtzoglou also attributed the launch of marketplaces such as Blur — a direct competitor to OpenSea — as part of the pick up in interest.

Tiger Global isn’t the only one marking down its stake in the NFT marketplace either. As reported by The Information, Coatue cut the value of its stake by roughly 90% at the beginning of November. The marketplace’s value sits a little over $1 billion.

Tiger Global did not immediately return a request for comment.

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