OpenSea CEO Credits Wife With Genius Idea to Pivot From NFT To Crypto Trading

OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer has attributed the company’s new direction to an idea from his wife, Yu-Chi Lyra Kuo. Her proposal to move beyond NFTs and support wider crypto trading has driven a major reinvention of the once-dominant digital art marketplace.

Kuo, a Harvard Law graduate and early cryptocurrency investor, collaborated with Finzer to develop a concrete plan based on that idea. Together, they designed a system that enables OpenSea to aggregate buy and sell orders from decentralized exchanges, such as Uniswap and Meteora.

From Market Decline to Major Restructuring

According to Finzer, Kuo worked closely with him through every stage of the transition. He called her a “silent cofounder of OpenSea 2.0,” noting that she contributed both strategic insight and technical planning to the company’s redesign.

Their collaboration came at a time when OpenSea was under growing pressure to adapt. The NFT market entered a steep decline in mid-2022, with prices and volumes dropping by more than 80%. Major collections like Bored Apes and CryptoPunks also lost most of their value.

The downturn had a direct effect on OpenSea’s earnings. Monthly revenue fell from $125 million in January 2022 to just $3 million by October 2023. At that time, the company had already been valued at $13.3 billion.

Competition added further strain as Blur entered the market with zero trading fees and no royalty requirements for creators. When OpenSea introduced similar measures to remain competitive, it drew backlash from users who accused the company of abandoning artists.

Faced with falling revenue and user discontent, Finzer made the difficult choice to restructure. He told 175 employees that more than half would be laid off and offered severance to anyone who preferred to leave.

Restructuring Efforts Begin to Show Results

OpenSea now operates with about 60 employees and 10 contractors, most of whom work remotely. Finzer runs operations from a shared workspace in Manhattan, leading a smaller but more efficient team focused on rebuilding the company’s direction.

That renewed focus is starting to pay off. In the first two weeks of October 2025, OpenSea processed $1.6 billion in crypto trades and $230 million in NFT transactions. The activity generated around $16 million in revenue, marking its strongest month in three years.