Major non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea has announced a massive structure around reducing platform fees and increasing creator revenue, as the competitive marketplace continues to drain its once-dominant user base.
NFT marketplace Blur surpassed OpenSea in daily ether on Feb. 18, according to Nansen data, Trading volume, as users expecting greater returns on their NFT investments are looking for a place to trade in their favour. As a reactionary measure, OpenSea announced three major changes to win back its migrated customers. These include a 0% fee for a limited time, the introduction of optional creator revenue and leniency for other operators.
Acknowledging the loss of users to other “NFT marketplaces that do not fully enforce creator revenue,” OpenSea seeks to revive its dominance in the space, 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.”
OpenSea argues that it defends creator income across all collections, while reiterating its support for Operator Filter, a feature designed to help creators secure their income to resell their work. However, this filter actively blocks recommendations from marketplaces with the same policy. Blur’s daily transaction volume supremacy can be attributed to its new royalty policy, which showcases the difference in royalty payment options between its platform and OpenSea.
Amid the royalty war between the two markets, community members emphasized the importance of competition in the industry. If not a zero-royalty market, more established players like OpenSea end up increasing the fee structure, which hurts creators and collectors alike.
In addition, OpenSea plans to continue testing models and identifying which ones work best for communities and organizations. Community members speculate that if OpenSea succeeds in amassing lost customers, it may increase its platform fees in the future a predatory move often noted in less competitive industries.
YouTube’s appointment of a new CEO, Neal Mohan, is considered a victory for the crypto community, given Mohan’s preference for using NFTs and Web3 as a source of income for creators.
