Top NFT marketplace OpenSea's valuation soars 800% to $13.3 billion after latest funding round

• OpenSea just completed a $300 million Series C funding round, led by Paradigm and Coatue.
• The firm is now valued at $13.3 billion, up from $1.5 billion in July 2021.

The largest and NFT marketplace, OpenSea, announced it just closed a $300 million Series C fundraising round headlined by Paradigm and Coatue as well as new investors, valuing the the peer-to-peer NFT auction platform at $13.3 billion.

Just six months ago, Andreessen Horowitz's crypto arm handed the firm a valuation of $1.5 billion in a funding round at that time. In the last month alone, OpenSea has recorded $2.4 billion in transaction volume, and CEO Devin Finzer said volume has increased "over 600x in 2021."

In a press release, OpenSea said its goals following the new funding round include accelerating product development, improving customer support and safety, investing in the wider Web3 community, and growing the team.

In March 2020, OpenSea made less than $30,000 in commission revenue per month. Now, Finzer and co-founder Alex Atallah are household names in the Web3 space and OpenSea continues to see massive trading volume.

Wall Street, too, has taken notice of NFTs and the wider metaverse sector. Goldman Sachs said crypto technology will be "one of the most disruptive technology trends" as it sits at the center of the metaverse. Fund manager Grayscale said virtual real estate presents a potential $1 trillion a year revenue opportunity.

Just this week, sales of the popular NFT series Bored Ape Yacht Club jumped past $1 billion on momentum from high-profile buyers like hip hop artist Eminem and NBA star Steph Curry, among other celebrities.