Devin Finzer - An Everything Store for Digital Assets - [Founder’s Field Guide, EP. 53]

Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy

My guest today is Devin Finzer, co-founder and CEO of OpenSea, the world’s largest NFT marketplace. In a journey that started like many other founders in the space, Devin went deep down the crypto rabbit hole in 2017 and became particularly fascinated with the potential behind digital assets.

During our conversation, we touch on the origin story of OpenSea, how Devin differentiates between the spectrum of NFTs in the market, and what he sees as the opportunity in the future for the industry. We also talk about the various risks within a blockchain, from security dynamics to market speculation. I hope you enjoy this great conversation with Devin Finzer.

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

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Show Notes

[00:02:56] - [First question] - When he first thought up the genesis of OpenSea

[00:06:00] - What is listed on OpenSea, assets and volume, and the scope of the platform

[00:07:26] - Thoughts on potentially becoming the current era “everything store”

[00:09:22] - How they managed to become the main NFT trading platform

[00:12:28] - What NFTs are, their various classes, and ways they’re stored on the blockchain

[00:15:25] - How much transaction and auction volume happens on-chain

[00:17:07] - Profile picture style NFTs and what’s exciting about them

[00:19:24] - ArtBlocks and the mass interest in AI-generated art

[00:21:22] - What he’s learned and seen about the emerging crypto gaming space

[00:24:38] - The user experience of buying an NFT on OpenSea

[00:26:45] - How the ownership transfer works between wallets

[00:28:04] - Whether or not they have plans to partner with other companies

[00:30:32] - How they think about what gets placed on OpenSea and why

[00:32:09] - Thoughts on take rate and their 2.5% take rate of transactions

[00:33:22] - Why their take rate is so low compared to other sale platforms online

[00:34:47] - OpenSea’s relationship with the Ethereum blockchain and other integrations

[00:36:50] - Perspective on wallets both as businesses and products

[00:39:16] - Potential risks and the dark side of the unregulated NFT space

[00:40:48] - The massive boom and bust cycles of crypto and the high prices of NFTs

[00:41:59] - Interesting areas of Web3 that are in development today

[00:44:19] - The project he’s enjoyed watching grow the most in the crypto world

[00:46:42] - What OpenSea might look like in the future if the best-case proves true

[00:48:59] - The kindest thing that anyone has ever done for him