OpenSea CFO Clarifies That They Are “Not Planning an IPO” After Community Backlash

The world’s largest NFT marketplace OpenSea has been facing a sort of community backlash after news broke out that the company is planning for an IPO. The news was that Ethereum-based OpenSea shall be raising funds through an Initial Public Offering (IPO) after the company appointed its new CFO Brian Roberts.

However, a day later after facing massive community backlash, OpenSea CFO has issued a clarification. In his recent tweet, Roberts wrote:

There was inaccurate reporting about @OpenSea‘s plans. Let me set the record straight: there is a big gap between thinking about what an IPO might eventually look like & actively planning one. We are not planning an IPO, and if we ever did, we would look to involve the community.

Brian Roberts recently joined OpenSea after his successful tenure at the ride-sharing company Lyft. Mr. Roberts has been instrumental in the successful public listing of Lyft back in 2019.

Roberts Sees Huge Growth In Web 3 Companies

The new OpenSea CFO is quite optimistic about the developments taking place in Web 3.0. Speaking about his decision to resign at Lyft and join OpenSea as the CFO, Roberts said: “I voted with my feet”.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Roberts said that the growth in Web 3.0 companies and in particular the OpenSea’s NFT marketplace made it easier for him to decide. “I haven’t been this excited about something in a very long time,” he said. “It reminds me of 1995 eBay” speaking of OpenSea’s rampant growth and profits, Roberts added:

“I’ve seen a lot of P&Ls (profit and loss statements) but I’ve never seen a P&L like this. When you have a company growing as fast as this one, you’d be foolish not to think about it going public”. It “would be well-received in the public market given its growth.”

OpenSea Founder and CEO Devin Finzer also confirmed that the company is looking for fresh funds. However, they are yet to figure out what kind of investors they are willing to bring. OpenSea currently has backing from some of the top investors like A16Z, Founders Fund, Coinbase and Blockchain Capital.