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Devin Finzer

Devin Finzer is an entrepreneur and technology executive, born in 1990, best known as the co-founder and (CEO) of , the world's leading marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and other blockchain-based digital assets. Finzer grew up in the and developed an early interest in technology, creating computer games as a child. He attended , where he earned a bachelor's degree in in 2013 and co-developed an online tool for students to share and compare course schedules during his junior year. After graduation, Finzer built a career in software engineering, working on growth teams at , , and . In 2015, he co-founded Claimdog, a for tracking and claiming unclaimed money and assets, which was acquired by the following year. Inspired by the launch of in late 2017, Finzer co-founded in December of that year with fellow engineer Alex Atallah, aiming to create a decentralized platform for discovering, buying, selling, and trading NFTs on the . The company, initially a small team project, rapidly grew during the 2021 NFT boom, becoming the first NFT-focused with a valuation exceeding $1 billion and later reaching $13.3 billion in a 2022 funding round. Finzer and Atallah, each holding an estimated 18% stake in , became the first NFT billionaires in January , with Finzer's peaking at around $2.2 billion at the time, though estimates later declined to under $600 million each by 2023 amid falling valuations. Under his leadership, facilitated billions in trading volume and supported creators in the digital collectibles space, though the platform faced challenges including a staff layoff of 20% and subsequent layoffs, including 50% of staff in 2023, amid prolonged market volatility. As of 2025, under Finzer's leadership, has pivoted to support broader trading with the launch of its platform and plans to launch its SEA token in the first quarter of 2026.

Early life and education

Family background

Devin Finzer was born in 1990 in the , . His father worked as a software engineer, providing early exposure to that influenced Finzer's interests in innovation from a young age. Finzer developed an early interest in , creating computer games as a child. His mother pursued a career as a . Finzer grew up in the and attended in , graduating in 2008. This familial and environmental backdrop laid the foundation for his transition to at .

Academic pursuits

Finzer enrolled at in 2009, pursuing a dual major in and , influenced by his family's technical background—his father worked as a . He graduated in 2013 with a degree in these fields, gaining foundational knowledge in software engineering, algorithms, and computational theory through core coursework and electives. During his junior year, Finzer co-developed CourseKick, an online tool designed as a engine for course registration, enabling students to discover, share, and optimize their schedules based on peer reviews and availability. This project, initially created for a class alongside future Figma founder and Sam Birch, quickly gained traction, with over 20 percent of Brown undergraduates signing up within weeks of its 2011 launch, highlighting Finzer's early entrepreneurial approach to coding and user-centered software design. Finzer also engaged in extracurricular computer science activities, including participation in hackathons that fostered collaborative problem-solving and rapid prototyping skills. For instance, as a , he joined a team at a 2012 Facebook-hosted for students from , Harvard, and , where they built innovative applications under time constraints, further solidifying his expertise in . These academic experiences laid the groundwork for his subsequent ventures in .

Professional career

Early engineering roles

After graduating from in 2013 with a degree in and , Devin Finzer began his engineering career at as a software engineer, where he focused on backend development to support product infrastructure. This role provided him with foundational experience in large-scale systems during his early post-graduation period starting in 2013. Finzer subsequently joined Flipboard as a , contributing to features and pipelines that enhanced user engagement on the aggregation . Around 2014, he moved to Pinterest in a position, working on recommendation algorithms and user interface improvements to optimize content discovery for millions of users. These roles at high-growth companies honed his abilities in collaborative coding environments and iterative product development. Finzer had a brief stint at Credit Karma as an engineering manager following the 2016 acquisition of his startup Claimdog, where he led efforts on financial tools to streamline unclaimed property recovery features. Through these early positions, Finzer acquired key skills in scalable , introductory applications for , and in fast-paced, team-oriented settings.

Pre-OpenSea entrepreneurship

In 2015, Devin Finzer co-founded Claimdog with Manu Lakkur, launching a application focused on assisting users in tracking and recovering unclaimed funds and reimbursements from sources including providers, airlines, banks, and government entities. The platform's core features centered on simplifying the recovery process through search tools that identified potential claims and facilitated submissions with minimal user input, effectively reducing barriers in what was traditionally a cumbersome manual task. Finzer's earlier role as a software engineer at Pinterest equipped him with the backend development expertise necessary to build these integrations with financial data sources. Claimdog was acquired by Credit Karma in 2016 for an undisclosed sum, providing Finzer with an early entrepreneurial exit. This success underscored the challenges of user acquisition in the competitive fintech landscape, where attracting and retaining users required targeted strategies amid regulatory hurdles and low awareness of unclaimed assets, while also highlighting the benefits of rapid iteration and pivots to refine product-market fit in nascent startups. Post-acquisition, Finzer transitioned into an engineering manager position at from June 2016 to December 2017, where he oversaw the integration of Claimdog's technology to enable unclaimed money searches for the company's expanding user base.

Founding and leading OpenSea

Devin Finzer co-founded in December 2017 alongside Alex Atallah, motivated by the emergence of and the broader potential for a decentralized to facilitate trading of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Drawing from Finzer's prior experience building Claimdog, a claims-processing startup, the duo aimed to address the fragmented landscape of early blockchain-based digital assets by creating a platform. launched that same month as an for blockchain-verified collectibles, initially focused on and supporting the ERC-721 standard, which enabled unique ownership representation for digital items like art and . As CEO, Finzer led OpenSea's product development, guiding the platform's evolution from a basic listing site to a robust ecosystem for creators and collectors. He oversaw team expansion from the initial two co-founders to 37 employees by late and nearly 300 by mid-2022, hiring across engineering, design, and operations to scale operations amid surging demand. Finzer also cultivated key partnerships with projects, including integrations with early NFT initiatives like and collaborations with developers to enhance compatibility and user accessibility. Under Finzer's leadership, achieved significant milestones, including surpassing one million active users by late 2021 amid the NFT boom, which drove over $14 billion in transaction volume that year. In January 2022, the company raised $300 million in Series C funding led by and Coatue, achieving a $13.3 billion post-money valuation and solidifying its position as the leading NFT marketplace. In September 2022, faced controversy when product manager Nathaniel Chastain was charged with wire fraud and for of NFTs using non-public information about featured collections; he was convicted in 2023 but the conviction was overturned by a U.S. appeals court in July 2025. Finzer directed several key innovations that bolstered 's creator-friendly infrastructure, such as the introduction of lazy minting in December 2020, which allowed users to list NFTs without upfront gas fees by deferring on-chain minting until purchase. The platform expanded to multi-chain support starting with in October 2021, reducing transaction costs and broadening accessibility beyond . Additionally, implemented tools for enforcing creator royalties on secondary sales, ensuring ongoing revenue for artists through programmable mechanisms.

Recent strategic shifts

In response to the 2022-2023 NFT market downturn, which saw OpenSea's monthly revenue plummet from $125 million in January 2022 to $3 million by late 2023, the company implemented significant cost-cutting measures under Devin Finzer's leadership. This included laying off 20% of its staff in July 2022, reducing the workforce to approximately 230 employees, followed by an additional 50% cut in November 2023, resulting in over half the total staff being eliminated. In 2025, pivoted to become a multi-chain trading , expanding beyond NFTs to encompass tokens, DeFi protocols, and assets across 22 blockchains. This strategic shift, announced in October 2025, introduced aggregated order books from decentralized exchanges like , enabling seamless cross-chain swaps of memecoins, fungible tokens, and other digital assets while maintaining support for NFT royalties. The move addressed the 90% decline in NFT trading volume since by broadening the platform's scope to capture the larger trading market. As part of this evolution, announced the launch of its SEA token in the first quarter of 2026, managed through an independent foundation, with 50% of the total supply allocated to the community via initial claims for historical users and rewards participants. Additionally, 50% of the 's revenue at launch will fund SEA token buybacks, while users can the token on preferred collections or projects to enhance . The pivot drove a surge in trading volume in October 2025, with processing $2.6 billion in total trades—over 90% from token trading—marking its strongest month since the 2022 NFT peak and surpassing prior volumes like $142 million in May 2025. This growth was fueled by the new aggregated order books, which improved liquidity and accessibility for cross-chain transactions. Finzer's strategic vision emphasizes across blockchains to create a unified trading venue, empowering users through non-custodial, self-sovereign experiences without mandatory KYC, while navigating ongoing regulatory scrutiny on NFTs. He has highlighted NFTs' role in enabling transferable, cross-platform digital ownership, such as integrating assets between games or , to foster an where creators and users retain control. This approach comes amid resolved U.S. investigations into , closed without charges in February 2025, which had examined whether certain NFTs constituted securities.

Personal life

Marriage and family

Devin Finzer is married to Yu-Chi Lyra Kuo, an early investor and tech investor who ran a trading fund from to 2021, holds a , and pursued a in and at . The couple shares a strong interest in and , influenced by Finzer's background in and Kuo's experience in and . Kuo has played a notable role in Finzer's professional life, including inspiring key business strategies; Finzer publicly credited her with the idea for 's 2025 pivot to expand beyond NFTs into a broader trading aggregator. The couple met in 2021. The couple maintains a private family life, with no public information available about children as of 2025. Despite the demands of Finzer's career leading , they prioritize balancing professional commitments with personal time.

Public persona and interests

Devin Finzer has cultivated a public image as a vocal advocate for blockchain's democratizing potential, frequently emphasizing in interviews how NFTs enable creators to bypass traditional intermediaries and directly monetize their work. He has described NFTs as a mechanism for artists, musicians, and other producers to engage supporters through limited-edition digital assets, fostering direct economic relationships that empower independent talent. Finzer has also highlighted Web3's role in granting users greater control over their data and identity, envisioning a future where platforms align incentives with individual ownership rather than centralized control, as seen in the of digital items across applications. Finzer's prominence in the crypto space has contributed to net worth estimates fluctuating with market conditions; his net worth has fluctuated with market conditions, peaking at an estimated $2.2 billion in 2022 derived primarily from an approximately 18% equity stake in , though subsequent downturns have reduced this figure significantly. As of 2025, estimates vary around $600 million. Beyond his professional role, Finzer has expressed personal interests in , stemming from his childhood hobby of creating computer games, which influenced his early appreciation for digital assets. His enthusiasm for art is evident in 's focus on blockchain-based collectibles, and he has shown early involvement in the ecosystem, inspired by the 2017 launch and participation in nascent adopter communities via platforms like . Finzer frequently engages in public speaking at industry conferences, such as Sessions: Crypto in 2022, where he discussed NFT market dynamics, growth opportunities amid volatility, and the platform's strategies for maintaining leadership in decentralized digital economies. His talks often underscore the broader potential of for innovative use cases. Details on Finzer's philanthropic activities are sparse, but he is a member of Founders Pledge, an organization that pledges a portion of founders' wealth to high-impact causes, potentially including tech education initiatives; however, specific commitments or donations have not been publicly detailed.

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