NFT marketplace OpenSea will issue its own token, SEA, in the first quarter of 2026, co-founder Devin Finzer confirmed in a post on X. The token will play a central role in the company’s transformation from a purely NFT platform into a broader marketplace for digital and tokenized assets.
Finzer revealed that in October 2025, OpenSea recorded more than $2.6 billion in trading volume, with 90% coming from token transactions.
According to him, this shift marks the beginning of a strategy to turn OpenSea into a platform for “trading everything” — not just NFTs, but also culture, art, ideas, digital goods and even physical assets.
“NFTs were chapter one for us. In 2021, OpenSea brought the first wave of everyday internet users onchain. Collectors, artists, gamers, musicians — people who had never opened a wallet — showed up on OpenSea and suddenly owned digital property,” Finzer wrote.
SEA will be a core element of that vision. Finzer said the token’s launch was delayed because it “doesn’t deserve to be released and forgotten,” suggesting a long-term strategy rather than a hype drop.
Community Rewards and Token Buyback Plan
OpenSea plans to distribute up to 50% of the total SEA supply to its community, including active users and rewards program participants.
In addition, the marketplace will allocate up to 50% of its revenue during the launch phase to buy back SEA tokens, a move that could support price stability and demand in the early stages. Total issuance details have not yet been revealed.
The SEA token was first announced in February 2025, but the official launch is now set for Q1 2026.
Source: https://coinpaper.com/11758/open-sea-to-launch-sea-token-in-2026-and-reward-half-the-community