EtherFi CEO Condemns OpenSea’s Suspension Of Its NFTs

Staking protocol EtherFi has called out the OpenSea marketplace for its decision to suspend the trading of the former’s EtherFan NFT collection last week. 

EtherFi Open Letter Slams OpenSea 

Founder and CEO at EtherFi, Mike Silagadze, penned a reproachful letter addressing the OpenSea marketplace and its decision to halt the trading of the EtherFan NFT collection. 

Silagadze wrote that even though the collection launch was a success, it was short-lived. He wrote that even though the collection’s all 3000 NFTs were minted within a day, the listings were removed from the OpenSea platform without any warning. The creators attempted to contact OpenSea through multiple channels but received no response for several days.

“OpenSea – An Unlicensed Casino”

Silagadze wrote that after days of attempted contact, the NFT marketplace finally responded in the form of a letter from its generic support email. The communication claimed that NFT collections involved in financial activities subject to registration or licensing are not allowed on the OpenSea platform. Since EtherFan NFTs are wrapped staked ETH with a PFP (Profile Picture), they fall under the category devised by the platform’s conservative interpretation.

Saligadze also claimed that the NFT creators had previously communicated with the marketplace team prior to the launch to ensure compatibility and had received the green signal from them. 

He wrote, 

“OpenSea has been running a de facto unlicensed casino where people engage in ruinous gambling and spend millions on pictures of monkeys and such. This is all great and ok apparently, but listing a collection that actually has utility is disallowed because it has utility.”

OpenSea Too Big To Take Risks

He did state that he did not believe there were any malicious intentions behind the actions, but just that the scope of the platform has become too big for operational clarity. He believes OpenSea’s growth into a large organization might have led to increased caution and risk aversion.

He wrote, 

“Having the EtherFan NFT listed on a marketplace was a fairly important part of our marketing strategy because we expected there would be a resale market…Unequivocally, we did not get any indication whatsoever from OpenSea that any of what we were doing was potentially in violation of their Terms of Service,” 

The incident has sparked discussions within the crypto community about the importance of companies taking principled stands, with some pointing to Coinbase as an example. For now, EtherFan NFTs remain unavailable on OpenSea, leaving its creators and users seeking alternative solutions for trading and engagement.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.