Quick take:
- OpenSea has acquired the NFT aggregation platform Gem.
- The leading NFT marketplace said it is targeting the more experienced “pro” users with its new acquisition.
- Gem has experienced rapid growth since the start of 2022, overtaking its close rival Genie.
The world’s largest non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace has acquired the leading NFT aggregator platform Gem to expand its digital collectibles ecosystem. OpenSea co-founder and CEO Devin Finzer wrote on the company blog on Monday saying it is targeting the more experienced “pro” users with the new acquisition.
“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,” he wrote.
Gem has built an amazing ecosystem that has resulted in rapid growth. The NFT aggregator trailed its close rival Genie late last year, but it has dominated transaction volume since February.
According to the data compiled by @Sohwak on Dune Analytics, Gem is averaging a daily transaction volume of about 4,000 ETH, and has now amassed a cumulative volume of more than 207,577 ETH, approximately $728 million.
On the contrary, Genie, which was doing well late last year has a cumulative transaction volume of 89,685 ETH, approximately $401 million.
Like all NFT aggregator platforms, Gem allows users to buy non-fungible tokens from multiple marketplaces welts offering them tools and features to quickly identify the best offers based on rarity, popularity and pricing
NFT aggregators have become favourites of professional NFT traders that are looking to profit from their holding in multiple ways, including trading, staking, swapping and royalties.
Gem will have the [erfect opportunity to scale its product offerings while also accelerating its roadmap.
OpenSea is also looking to learn as much as possible from Gem’s expertise and insights about NFT communities, thus bringing the best of Gem’s features to OpenSea.
However, Gem will continue operations as a stand-alone product and brand. “The Gem you know and love won’t change; and over time, we’ll bring key Gem features to OpenSea to make buying NFTs seamless and delightful for every experience level,” Finzer added.
OpenSea assured its community that it took due diligence measures before making the announcement, saying that big decisions like these are always evaluated thoroughly.
“During the course of our diligence, 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.”
The company assured the community that the individual had been exiled from Gem and will never be welcomed back to the community.
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