OpenSea acquires Rally wallet to bolster mobile and token trading push

NFT marketplace OpenSea has acquired Rally — the company behind the Rally wallet — designed to strengthen its move into token trading.

Headquartered in Miami, OpenSea aims to become the leading platform for discovering, trading, and building onchain following its OS2 rollout. Rally's team, technology, and expertise will help accelerate this vision by allowing OpenSea to fully embrace a mobile-first strategy, the company stated in a release shared with The Block. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Longtime OpenSea CTO Nadav Hollander is passing the torch to Rally CEO Chris Maddern, who will step in as OpenSea's new Chief Technology Officer. Maddern brings extensive expertise in web3 product design and user experience and will spearhead OpenSea's technical vision as it enters its next phase of growth, according to the release. 

"Joining OpenSea is a natural next step for Rally's mission," Maddern said. "Together, we'll accelerate the adoption of web3 by making it easier, safer, and more social to engage with digital assets, no matter where you are in your journey."

Rally co-founder Christine Hall will also join OpenSea as Chief of Staff, supporting operations and strategic initiatives.

"The Rally team shares our vision of a more accessible and delightful onchain trading experience for everyone," OpenSea co-founder and CEO Devin Finzer said. "We're excited to bring their passion and expertise to OpenSea as we build the best place to discover, trade, and create onchain, with mobile at the forefront."

Rally has built a seedphrase-free mobile wallet that combines self-custody, ease of use, and social features, allowing users to trade NFTs, tokens, and digital currencies across multiple chains. It includes trade protection, token discovery tools, and a dashboard showing friends' onchain activity. OpenSea plans to integrate Rally's technology and mobile-first design to simplify onboarding and improve the user experience for collectors, traders, and builders.

SEA token and expansion plans amid NFT slump

In May, OpenSea said it is urgently working on the launch of the SEA token — but that it is essential to have certain feature releases in place before the token generation event.

The NFT market has suffered tremendously since its 2021 heyday, failing to recover from the 2022 bear market as strongly as other sectors in the crypto space — likely providing the impetus for OpenSea to expand into other services.