As competing marketplaces continue to erode its once-dominant user base, major nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea announced a significant restructuring around lower platform fees and higher creator earnings.
According to Nansen data, on February 18, the NFT marketplace Blur overtook OpenSea in terms of daily Ethereum (ETH) trading volume as customers sought for a trading environment that benefited them in anticipation of higher returns on their NFT investments.
OpenSea responded by announcing three significant adjustments in an effort to retain its customers who were migrating. The measures include introducing optional creator earnings, a temporary 0% fee, and leniency for other operators.
OpenSea acknowledged that it was losing customers to “NFT markets that don’t properly enforce creative earnings,” and the new initiatives are an effort to regain its market leadership. Further adding,
“Recent events – including Blur’s decision to roll back creator earnings (even on filtered collections) and the false choice they’re forcing creators to make between liquidity on Blur or OpenSea – prove that our attempts are not working.”
While reiterating its support for Operator Filter, a feature designed to assist artists in securing their revenue for the resale of their work, the firm thinks that it successfully defended creator earnings on all collections. Yet, this filter deliberately disallowed marketplace recommendations that had the same policies.
Blur’s new royalty policy, which highlights the variations in royalty payment alternatives between its platform and the world’s biggest NFT marketplace, can be credited with the company’s dominance in daily trading volume. It said,
“OpenSea’s current royalty policy prevents collections from being able to earn royalties everywhere. They have cited various reasons for this (see FAQ), but the end result is that creators are limited to earning royalties on only one platform at a time.”
Anticipated Fee Hike At OpenSea
Community members emphasized the value of competition in the sector amid the royalty battle between the two marketplaces. Without marketplaces that charge no royalties, larger companies like OpenSea would eventually raise their fees, which would be bad for both creators and collectors.
Also, OpenSea intends to keep evaluating the model to see what functions best for the organization and the community. If the famous NFT marketplace is successful in gathering its lost clients, community members anticipate that it would likely boost its platform fees in the future—a predatory approach frequently observed in markets with less competition.
Neal Mohan’s selection as YouTube’s new CEO was seen by the crypto community as a victory because of Mohan’s propensity to embrace NFTs and Web3 as revenue sources for producers.