some days after Blur promised to reward NFT creators who block trading of their collections on Open sea, the leading NFT marketplace has responded by lowering its platform and creator’s royalty fees. OpenSea made the announcement via a Twitter thread explaining the circumstances that led to its current position.
We are making some important changes today:
1) OpenSea Fee → 0% for a limited time
2) Move to optional creator earnings (0.5% minimum) for all collections without chain compliance (old and new)
3) Markets with the same policies will not be blocked by the operator filter—OpenSea (@opensea) February 17, 2023
The statement notes that for a “promotional period”, OpenSea will not charge marketplace fees, while also transitioning to an optional creator earnings model, with a minimum of 0.5%, although sellers can pay more if they wish. The second rule applies to all collections that don’t use chaining, whether old or new.
Additionally, OpenSea has updated its operator filter, allowing users to sell NFTs in marketplaces that do not fully honor royalty payments to creators. This includes Blur, which complained that OpenSea used covert tactics to block sales on its platform. Therefore, creators will not be forced to choose between the two platforms to earn royalties on their collections.
“This is the beginning of a new era for OpenSea. We are excited to test this model and find the right balance of incentives and motivations for all ecosystem participants: creators, collectors, and buyers and sellers of energy.”
Blur’s meteoric rise has put OpenSea under pressure
OpenSea has experienced stiff competition for a share of the NFT market since Blur launched last October. To win over users, Blur has added a bunch of incentives that have worked like magic, helping the platform become OpenSea’s main competitor. The platform has gotten so big that OpenSea can’t just ignore it, and now they feel the pressure.
“Today, 80% of the total volume in the ecosystem does not pay full creator earnings, and most of the volume (even accounting for inorganic activity) has moved to a zero fee environment.” Thus, despite their best efforts to defend creator royalties, they have fallen short. Therefore, they feel that a change in strategy is inevitable.
“While we continue to keep the app on-chain through the carrier filter, we are moving to a different fee structure that reflects the needs of the current ecosystem.”
Following the tweet, Blur has continued to see astronomical trading activity, now surpassing OpenSea trading volumes as high-end collectors look to secure more of their token rewards. At the time of writing, Blur has recorded over $500 million in Ethereum sales in the last week alone.
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*All investment/financial opinions expressed by NFT Plazas come from the personal research and experience of our site moderators and are intended for educational purposes only. People are required to fully research any product before making any type of investment.
Basil is an avid fan of blockchain technology and all its innovations, and he is passionate about sharing this narrative with his audience. He has spent over five years in the crypto space, specializing in research and creating Web3 content for various media outlets around the world.
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