\u201cAs the world’s leading web3 marketplace for NFTs, trust and integrity are core to everything we do,\u201d an OpenSea spokesperson said in a statement. \u201cWhen we learned of Nate’s behavior, we initiated an investigation and ultimately asked him to leave the company. His behavior di lui was in violation of our employee policies and in direct conflict with our core values \u200b\u200band principles. “<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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The five-year-old company was valued at $ 13.3 billion in January, based on a $ 300 million round of venture capital funding it announced at the time. It has drawn major buzz even beyond crypto industry circles as NFTs became a cultural juggernaut over the last year – and drawn investments from Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, basketball star Kevin Durant, and actor and entrepreneur Ashton Kutcher.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Spending on the tokens, which investors use to prove ownership of digital art and other media, vaulted from $ 106 million in 2020 to roughly $ 40 billion last year. But the market appeared to be cooling this year, even before a broader collapse in digital asset prices last month. NFT transaction activity fell from $ 3.9 billion in mid-February to $ 964 million in mid-March, its lowest weekly level since August, according to a report by crypto analytics firm Chainalysis.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n