NFT Marketplace OpenSea Acquires DeFi Wallet Firm Dharma Labs

Dharma co-founder Nadav Hollander will serve as OpenSea's chief technology officer.

AccessTimeIconJan 18, 2022 at 6:04 p.m. UTC
Updated May 11, 2023 at 7:17 p.m. UTC
10 Years of Decentralizing the Future
May 29-31, 2024 - Austin, TexasThe biggest and most established global hub for everything crypto, blockchain and Web3.Register Now

Non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea has acquired crypto wallet firm Dharma Labs, OpenSea announced Tuesday.

The acquisition, first reported as in the works by Axios on Jan. 4, comes just weeks after OpenSea nabbed a $13.3 billion valuation in its latest funding round.

  • Crypto Market Leaders and Laggards in 2023
    01:50
    Crypto Market Leaders and Laggards in 2023
  • Why Injective's INJ Has Surged 3,000% in 2023
    00:52
    Why Injective's INJ Has Surged 3,000% in 2023
  • DeFi Market Rebounds to $50B as Speculators Hunt for Yield
    01:11
    DeFi Market Rebounds to $50B as Speculators Hunt for Yield
  • How Spool Is Aiming to Help Institutions Enter DeFi
    11:05
    How Spool Is Aiming to Help Institutions Enter DeFi
  • As part of the deal, Dharma co-founder Nadav Hollander will become OpenSea’s chief technology officer. Co-founder Alex Atallah had previously been in the CTO role. Atallah will step into a new role overseeing “NFT ecosystem development efforts,” according to the company blog post.

    “[Co-founder] Devin [Finzer], Alex and the entire OpenSea team have shown incredible tenacity and grit over the past four years in taking their original idea for an NFT exchange to where it is today,” Hollander said in a statement. “I’m excited to focus on scaling OpenSea’s tech to meet the reliability, performance and uptime benchmarks its users expect and deserve.”

    Just like Dharma, OpenSea serves assets on the Ethereum mainnet and Polygon’s Matic network, perhaps explaining why the firm was an acquisition fit. Dharma also boasts key integrations with many U.S. banks.

    Dharma launched in 2019 as a crypto lending startup before pivoting to stablecoin savings accounts later that year. More recently, it positioned itself as a mainstream-friendly gateway into the world of decentralized finance.

    The vision to be the "Robinhood of DeFi" ends now, however. Dharma said the app will be shut down in one month.

    OpenSea, which launched in 2017 as an eBay for NFTs, has already seen record-breaking sales volume to start off January as it is on pace to break its $3.4 billion monthly high set last August.

    Disclosure

    Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

    CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.

    Eli Tan

    Eli was a news reporter for CoinDesk. He holds ETH, SOL and AVAX.


    Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk's longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.