OpenSea and Doodle token teasers are a potential vibes booster for crypto
The Drop’s Kate Irwin explains why OpenSea’s OS2 and SEA token are “exciting”
OpenSea and Adobe stock modified by Blockworks
This is a segment from the Empire newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe.
Outside of L1s, this was also a big week for token announcements.
OpenSea teased SEA and a new platform, and Doodle’s plans to launch its own token.
Does it mean that NFTs are back? Eh. But for The Drop’s Kate Irwin, it’s a vibes booster for people, one that’s perhaps necessary right now.
(ICYMI: The Drop is our newest newsletter, and I’ve been following Irwin’s reporting in Web3 and gaming for a few years now.)
She and I chatted about the tokens and OpenSea’s OS2 and she explained that there’s another part to this: XP, which is not a token but is earnable and is “core” to the OS2 rewards program.
“There’s a lot of other moving pieces as well, besides just the token, which is exciting, because then it’s not a memecoin. It’s actually a utility token that has a place in the OpenSea ecosystem,” she added.
Phew. Nice to have an announcement not focused on memecoins.
My big thing is whether or not this comes a little too late. When Irwin and I chatted this through, she made the sage point that this could be simply because OpenSea was worried about the potential regulatory issues that could arise (they were served with a Wells notice after all) and now, well, that’s no longer a problem.
But, unfortunately for OpenSea, they are following in Magic Eden’s footsteps after it launched a token first. It, notably, hasn’t dulled the excitement around OS2 or SEA though.
This could also be the beginning of a new wave of tokens, Irwin noted — especially because there is an appetite for tokens that have actual utility and not just speculation.
Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:
- Blockworks Daily: Unpacking crypto and the markets.
- Empire: Crypto news and analysis to start your day.
- Forward Guidance: The intersection of crypto, macro and policy.
- 0xResearch: Alpha directly in your inbox.
- Lightspeed: All things Solana.
- The Drop: Apps, games, memes and more.
- Supply Shock: Bitcoin, bitcoin, bitcoin.
