OpenSea Eyes ‘Pro Experience’ With Acquisition of NFT Aggregator Gem

The deal comes just weeks after controversy surrounding one of Gem’s pseudonymous developers.

AccessTimeIconApr 25, 2022 at 4:03 p.m. UTC
Updated May 11, 2023 at 4:12 p.m. UTC
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OpenSea has acquired non-fungible token (NFT) aggregator service Gem, the leading NFT marketplace said in a Monday blog post. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Gem offers a range of NFT-related services, including analytics tools, rarity rankings and bundled purchasing to save on Ethereum gas fees.

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  • OpenSea says it will integrate “the best of Gem’s features,” alluding for the first time to what it’s calling a “pro experience,” according to the blog post.

    “As the NFT community grows, we’ve recognized a need to better serve more experienced, ‘pro users,’ and offer more flexibility and choice to people at every level of experience,” OpenSea said in the blog post.

    OpenSea says that Gem will continue to operate as a stand-alone product and brand following the acquisition, fueling the platform with additional guidance and resources.

    On April 16, one of Gem’s pseudonymous core developers “Neso” was dismissed from the team for a fraught history of sexual assault allegations. BuzzFeed later revealed Neso’s true identity to be British Twitch streamer Josh Thompson.

    “We learned about, and immediately surfaced, some deeply concerning allegations against a now-former member of Gem’s leadership team who operated under the pseudonym Neso,” OpenSea said in the blog post. “This individual has never and will never be affiliated with OpenSea.”

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    Eli Tan

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


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