The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ends its inquiry into OpenSea without taking action against the biggest NFT marketplace. In August 2024 the SEC started its investigation into OpenSea to determine if its platform must register as an unapproved securities marketplace.

OpenSea got its first Wells notification after receiving notice from the SEC about potential legal action. Devin Finzer announced on February 21, 2025 that the SEC decided not to take action against OpenSea. This outcome benefits both OpenSea and NFT companies by letting them operate freely because NFTs do not need to follow securities standards.

SEC’s Legal Actions Against Crypto Giants

The SEC conducted its regulatory actions against multiple digital asset companies when it pursued legal action against OpenSea and Coinbase. The court terminated a lawsuit which accused Coinbase of running an unregistered securities business.

The SEC made new rules about how to regulate companies following President Donald Trump took office. Under his leadership his government works to balance blockchain regulations which create better conditions for the digital token market.

Industry leaders responded positively to OpenSea”s clearance from legal action. Chris Akhavan from Magic Eden believes NFT activities now favor the market growth according to crypto influencer Beanie.

SEC’s NFT Oversight Eases, Boosting Innovation

The SEC”s choice to ease NFT oversight will bring more investment and inspire fresh ideas for token design. Even with the investigation OpenSea increased its business operations. The platform revealed its plans to launch SEA but has not disclosed exact information about its release.

People criticize OpenSea”s reward system because they claim it helps users conduct wash trades and improperly boosts fee income while neglecting community support. The NFT market showed small yet noticeable growth in 2024.

Financial records provided by CryptoSlam reveal that from all NFT sales performed in 2024 a total of $8.83 billion was generated which surpassed 2023″s $8.7 billion result. The NFT market saw Ethereum and Bitcoin making $3.1 billion and Bitcoin behind that with $3.1 billion too.

Meanwhile Solana generated $1.4 billion in sales. While the sales figures have increased since prior years they still trail behind 2021 and 2022 as those years had $15.7 billion and $23.7 billion dollars in sales. Although the market started bouncing back at the end of 2024 monthly sales returned to previous levels.

OpenSea lost its status as the top Ethereum-based NFT marketplace because other platforms outperformed it in the marketplace. The platform can restore its NFT leadership status when the investigations end and it begins offering its SEA token to users.