{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"The Scoop","title":"NFT unicorn OpenSea sets sights on improving customer experience with $100 million war chest","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":1340,"description":"OpenSea's Devin Finzer is just as surprised as anyone to see non-fungible tokens (NFTs) taking off this summer.\n“None of us expected to hit a billion in transaction volume this month,” said Finzer, describing what he views as \"the biggest economy in the history of the internet.\"\nDuring this episode of The Scoop, OpenSea co-founder and CEO Devin Finzer joined host Frank Chaparro for a discussion on NFT’s, the metaverse, and OpenSea’s most recent completed fundraise.\nOpenSea recently raised $100 million from VC majors such as A16z as well as angel investors like Michael Ovitz and Ashton Kutcher, setting the NFT marketplace valuation at a $1.5 billion value.\nThe company's focus on building a marketplace appeared to bear fruit based on the NFT volume in August for OpenSea. \nWith fresh capital in hand, OpenSea is planning on retooling its systems to make it easier for the public to gain access to the marketplace.\nFinzer spoke with The Scoop about how OpenSea is improving gateways for the public to purchase NFT’s with a credit card and how the team is working with partners to lower fees for minting, selling and buying. He also touched on how this also includes expanding their blockchain partnerships with layer-1 and layer-2 scaling solutions, such as their recent Polygon integration. \nFinzer further discussed the Metaverse application of NFT’s as brands begin to buy into virtual worlds, such as Decentraland, in what the startup believes will become the stage for this new economy.\n“Long term we think NFT’s will be used for all sorts of creative things, across gaming, art collectibles, event tickets, real world items,\" said Finzer.\n\nEpisode 50 of Season 3 of The Scoop was recorded remotely with The Block’s Frank Chaparro and Devin Finzer, co-founder & CEO at OpenSea.\nListen below, and subscribe to The Scoop on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you listen to podcasts. Email feedback and revision requests to podcast@theblockcrypto.com.\nThis episode is...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/kC6kzNjgr18dm0FmBfV_f9xccAkjj-QXoCJmVNlNtrU/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS8xZmIz/N2E5MmRmMzJjOTU3/OTNhYjJkYzcxZTlj/MTU2Yi5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}