The NFT sector has yet to recapture the enthusiasm of 2021-2022, forcing many NFT-centric companies like OpenSea to pivot to more in-demand crypto use cases.
NFT marketplace turned trading platform OpenSea on Monday said it launched a $1 million reserve dedicated to buying “culturally relevant” non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
OpenSea kicked off its NFT reserve by buying a piece of digital art from the CryptoPunk collection — widely considered Ethereum’s first NFT profile picture (PFP) collection.
“To us, culturally relevant NFTs are works that have made an impact: creatively, socially, or technologically,” OpenSea Chief Marketing Officer Adam Hollander told Cointelegraph. “They might represent a defining moment in NFT history, introduce a new artistic style, or come from voices that haven’t been fully recognized yet.”
OpenSea bought CryptoPunk #5273, and plans additional acquisitions. Hollander said buying decisions will be guided by a cross-functional team of employees and external advisers from the digital art world.
Onchain data shows that CryptoPunk #5273 was purchased on Aug. 25 for 65 Ether (ETH), valued at around $283,000, before being transferred to another wallet address on Monday.
Created in June 2017 by Larva Labs, the CryptoPunks collection has a market cap of $2.1 billion, according to NFTPriceFloor.
While strategic reserves featuring fungible tokens like Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Solana (SOL) have become more popular in 2025, NFT reserves have been rare if nonexistent. They also carry additional risks to investors: NFTs are less liquid than fungible tokens and could be harder to sell during a market downturn.
Upcoming purchases will “happen over the coming months”, Hollander said. “It’s not a limited campaign, it’s a living collection that will continue to grow as the space evolves.”
Related: What is an NFT, and how does it work?
NFT momentum slows first week of September
The NFT sector showed signs of a comeback in recent weeks, according to data from CryptoSlam, with sales between July and August ranging from $115.4 million to $170.5 million. That momentum cooled in September, with weekly sales slipping to $92 million.
Various crypto exchanges, including Bybit and Kraken, and more mainstream companies like GameStop, have shuttered their NFT marketplaces amid falling trading volume.
In May, OpenSea announced it was rolling out a token trading platform in an effort to diversify its businesses. In April, NFT marketplace Magic Eden acquired crypto trading app Slingshot to undergo a similar pivot.
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