Kakao’s Klaytn expands NFT offerings to OpenSea following 800% quarterly growth

Klaytn, the blockchain project of South Korean tech giant Kakao, has partnered up with NFT marketplace OpenSea to bring a nonfungible token market to its platform. Klaytn is a smart contract platform developed by Kakao’s blockchain wing, Ground X, which will develop its own NFTs and offer them on OpenSea by the end of June, according to a recent announcement.

The dollar value of NFT transactions has exceeded $500 million since the turn of the year when the technology received renewed attention following a string of high-profile purchases by celebrities. While NFT tech can be applied to a number of use cases, its recent emergence at the forefront of discussion and investment was fuelled largely by its potential as a digital medium for artists.

OpenSea is one of the fastest-growing venues for the exchange of NFTs, with its reported March transaction volume of $100 million marking a 1,150% increase from January’s figure of $8 million.

The Klaytn blockchain launched in 2019 and is overseen by a community-governed network of companies made up of the likes of LG Electronics, Binance, Celltrion, the Maker Foundation and the Union Bank of the Philippines.

Ground X CEO Jason Han said the partnership with OpenSea would open up Klaytn’s community to a wider range of options when it comes to NFTs.

“The Klaytn support on OpenSea will provide our ecosystem with an opportunity to interact with a much wider audience, and we look forward to further exploring interesting digital assets on Klaytn,” said Han.

In the same way that Ethereum users can interact with decentralized applications using the MetaMask browser extension, Klaytn users will be able to use OpenSea using their own dedicated plugin, dubbed “Kaikas.”

OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer echoed Han’s sentiments, noting the potential for OpenSea to help bring mainstream attention to Klaytn’s NFT offerings.

“We believe that supporting the Klaytn blockchain and its growing NFT community empowers the blockchain space that can invite even mainstream audiences to experience Klaytn’s unique digital items and goods,” said Finzer.

The value of Klaytn's KLAY token increased 21% during the past 24 hours, climbing from a price of $3.41 up to $4.14. Its general trajectory since the turn of the year has been much of the same, having recorded 819% growth since January, becoming the 13th-ranked token by market capitalization in the process.