OpenSea Snaps Up Web3 Startup Rally to Launch Mobile NFT and Token Trading

American online NFT marketplace OpenSea has taken a major leap toward becoming an “on-chain everything app.” In a Tuesday disclosure, the NFT platform announced the purchase of Rally, a mobile-driven Web3 platform, thus bringing token and NFT trading to the doorstep of mobile phone users.

Rally Acquisition Signals Push Toward Mobile NFT and Token Trading

The recent acquisition not only shows OpenSea’s intention to create a mobile-focused trading platform but also reinforces its goal of making digital assets easily accessible to users. Taking to X, OpenSea urged followers to “Buckle up,” adding that “NFT and token trading” will soon be optimized to fit into the pocket of users.

Rally also disclosed that the OpenSea mobile edition will go live “later this year.” As part of the deal, Rally co-founders Chris Maddern and Christine Hall will cross over to the OpenSea board, bringing their expertise to help advance the platform’s online trading capabilities. At the same time, Maddern will double as OpenSea’s chief technology officer.

OpenSea reiterated that this move will further advance the platform’s bid to build a full-scale on-chain app, pivoting beyond non-fungible tokens into a broader blockchain-based service provider.

OpenSea Moves Past NFT Trading With New Offerings

Currently operating across 17 decentralized networks, OpenSea is no stranger to the digital asset space. And by leveraging Rally’s infrastructure, the platform could further cement its market presence by streamlining user access to DeFi services.

In a recent X post, Maddern revealed that work is underway for a new product to boost the DeFi “economy for creators, collectors, and traders.” The new OpenSea CTO explained that the vision behind the new product isn’t to displace NFTs. Instead, it seeks to enhance the sector. He also emphasized simplifying and making accessible concepts such as decentralized finance and perpetual futures contracts.

Maddern noted that OpenSea has intensified moves to become an apex mobile trading platform since most users tend to use these devices actively. He admitted that the firm is looking to integrate artificial intelligence, making crypto secure and simple for customers of all experience levels. However, specifics about the project are yet to be revealed to the public.

OS2 Launch Introduces Mobile Access and Multi-Chain Support

OpenSea’s recent expansion into the mobile space builds on its May unveiling of the “OS2” platform. At its core, the new technology allows users to access advanced trading services and features. This includes better search, sorting, and discovery through the new Traits tab and Explore tab.

Other features packed in the new product include:

• Token swaps using built-in liquidity tools.
• Support for more blockchains, with new ones added regularly.
• Aggregated marketplace listings to help you find the best prices.
• Live data and analytics, including rarity colors, real-time updates, and detailed stats.
• New homepage, faster navigation, a wallet sidebar, and real-time alerts.
• Rewards program for active users.

Another key feature of the new rollout is the cross-chain purchase functionality of the open beta version, which helps bridge NFT transactions across different networks.

NFT Crash Deepens as Sales Plunge and Hype Fades

Despite the advancement of OpenSea in the broader crypto space, the NFT market has faced a rough outing over the past year. From January 2024 to date, the sector has tanked to its lowest point. As per DappRadar, NFT sales volume has dropped from its January 2024 value of $4 billion to $823 million in the second quarter of this year.

For emphasis, this marks an over 18% decrease from the first quarter of the year, adding to a downtrend that has continued over the past five quarters. And as such, this poor outing culminates in making 2025 the worst year for NFTs in terms of performance.

Reduced retail interest and waning market hype fueled this steep drop. And given that most NFTs are built on the Ethereum chain, high ETH gas fees became a major concern for potential market participants.

Even top collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club have dropped in value, with new projects reaching zero value. Other top platforms, such as OpenSea and Blur, have posted discouraging traffic scores despite incentivized efforts to revive their brand. Although the global soccer body, FIFA, has advanced its NFT strategy with the recent Ethereum integration, these efforts haven’t been enough to flip the sector’s downtrend.