OpenSea acquires DeFi onramp wallet Dharma Labs

OpenSea, the leading NFT marketplace, has acquired Dharma Labs, the developer of smart contract wallets. It also serves as a mobile flat-on-ramp for decentralized finance and DeFi services for US citizens through integration with traditional bank accounts.

According to an OpenSea blog post announcement With the acquisition, OpenSea’s interest in Dharma Labs derives from Dharma’s “experience in seamlessly onboarding fiat currencies on the blockchain.” Dharma Labs brings a table experience in developing popular mobile apps that act as a user-friendly on-ramp to cryptocurrencies and DeFi. High seasOn the other hand, is a desktop experience that primarily requires mobile apps.

NFT space that needs better UX

In a similar blog post announcement, Dharma Labs describes the value Dharma brings to OpenSea.

“In the last two years, Dharma has built some of the most seamless experiences for converting fiat money to cryptocurrencies, making it easy for anyone in the United States to move from dollars to defy. Bring this expertise to OpenSea to enhance mainstream methods for selling, selling, and creating. “

“NFTs are the focus of cryptography to enter the mainstream culture. Making NFTs as easy to buy as possible at OpenSea is a multiplier for the power of this trend. Our aim is to do everything. It’s about improving the experience for users to buy, sell, or create NFTs on OpenSea. “

and Tweet Thread by Dharma Labs COO Brendan ForsterJoin the OpenSea team as chief strategy officer, Dharma Labs is basically a traditional cryptocurrency DeFi Go to NFT’s new “Spear Tip” and choose to shut down the popular Dharma app in the process.

“Our mission is always to accelerate the mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies, web3, And the NFT turned out to be the “tip of the spear” in terms of mainstream interest in cryptography. During 2021, this trend emerged and accelerated, and it is now clear that NFTs are the most mainstream cryptographic use case, “Forster tweeted.

“Purchasing NFTs is still really difficult”

but NFT According to Brendan Forster, it could act as a “gateway drag” to cryptocurrencies for many beginners, but the user experience in NFT spaces needs to be significantly improved.

“Unless you’re a crypto geek, face it, you haven’t bought an NFT yet very hard [Forster’s emphasis].. Buy ETH for USD, wait 5 days, download MetaMask Chrome extension, back up “seedphrase”, understand transaction submission and nonce, convert ETH to WETH, approve and then send Such. These are not insurmountable barriers. A motivated buyer, but cumulatively creates a lot of friction for new entrants, “Forster tweeted.

For Brendan Forster, it’s clear why Dharma Labs works with OpenSea, but it also rejects the idea that OpenSea will integrate the Dharma app.

“NFTs are a huge opportunity for cryptocurrencies, and we have found an opportunity to drive our mission by working at OpenSea, the market leader for buying, selling and enjoying NFTs. Despite the wealth of expertise, infrastructure, and knowledge that complements the organization, Dharma applications aren’t exactly what OpenSea needs today, “Brendan tweeted.

Dharma shuts down mobile apps

For this reason, the Dharma team has decided to “quit” the Dharma mobile app. The termination will take place during the 30-day “sunset period” during which users will be able to remit all remaining funds, including network charges, free of charge.

According to Dharma’s blog post, users who haven’t completed offboarding will be able to access their wallet funds through an open source DApp that is permanently hosted via IPFS in a completely unmanaged experience. However, accessing funds through a DApp is a relatively technical experience, and users have to pay for gas themselves.

The Dharma team relinquishes control of the remaining Dharma smart wallet and all crypto swaps and purchases are invalidated.

With this acquisition, as announced by OpenSea, Nadav Hollander, co-founder and CEO of Dharma Labs, will join the OpenSea team as the new Chief Technology Officer.

“Nadav was a veteran leader in the early Ethereum community, building, launching and evangelizing some of the most influential protocols and products in the DeFi space. He is the smart used by mainstream consumers. He spends his career building a system that cleverly hides the complexity of contracts and blockchains, bringing fresh crypto-native expertise to OpenSea’s leadership. “

“Although Nadav’s impact is widespread, his first mission is two major priorities: improving product technical reliability and uptime, and engaging in an early loyal community. It’s about building a web3 native mechanism for rewarding. I’m excited to bring his deep crypto expertise into the OpenSea leadership team, “said the OpenSea blog post.