OpenSea's Cayman Islands Registration Sparks Token Airdrop Speculation

NFT community members believe the platform will reward early adopters with a token airdrop.

Following its registration in the Cayman Islands, the non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea has spurred rumors about an eventual token launch and user airdrop.

Waleswoosh, a pseudonymous researcher from the Azuki NFT collection, shared the news on December 14 with a screenshot of OpenSea's Cayman Islands registration. NFT community members have theorized that the digital collection platform may introduce a cryptocurrency and undertake a token airdrop.

In a statement, an OpenSea spokeswoman confirmed the registration. "We can confirm that the foundation is a registered entity," they informed Cointelegraph.

Devin Finzer, co-founder and CEO of OpenSea, revealed on November 4 that the NFT marketplace will return. Although Finzer provided few details, he guaranteed that the redesigned platform would be available in December.

At the time, some people thought that an airdrop would be incorporated. Others, such as DappRadar's communications manager "nederob," believed an airdrop was implausible due to OpenSea's US-based activities.

Users anticipate an OpenSea airdrop

While OpenSea has not officially stated anything, users assume the Cayman Islands registration indicates that the NFT platform will undertake an airdrop for its customers.

Matter Labs' community manager "Golem" expects the platform to reward its early adopters, claiming that OpenSea had the opportunity to turn things around. Another OpenSea user expressed a similar viewpoint, expecting the NFT platform to reward their devotion.

One user expressed concern about whether the projected airdrop would account for the vast trading volumes in 2021 and 2022 when the NFT market saw billions in sales. The user theorized that OpenSea might follow in the footsteps of competitors such as Blur and Magic Eden, which used tokens to incentivize and reward players.

OpenSea has previously attempted to regain users from competitors in NFT marketplaces. On February 18, the platform offered $0 costs to reclaim ground on Blur. However, Blur continues to dominate NFT trading volumes, followed by OpenSea and OKX.  

Blur's market launch was accompanied by an airdrop scheme in which users could gain tokens at the end of each trading season. In 2023, a user received up to $11 million in Blur tokens as part of the NFT marketplace's second season of airdrops.

Magic Eden adopted Blur's technique, promising an airdrop to its users. However, as soon as the token was launched, its value fell. On December 11, the platform's ME token rose to $13.10 before plummeting nearly 70% after customers complained about the claiming procedure and issues in the project's mobile app.