Yuga Labs, the entity behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), is planning to gradually reduce its support for OpenSea, a popular NFT marketplace. This decision comes in response to the forthcoming removal of Operator Filter, an on-chain royalty enforcement tool , from the OpenSea platform.
Operator Filter was introduced in November 2022 to empower creators in controlling the sale of secondary non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on marketplaces that enforce royalties. It essentially filtered out platforms that didn't comply with royalty regulations. However , OpenSea announced on August 17 that it would retire the tool by the end of August due to lack of widespread adoption, platforms bypassing it, and objections from creators.
Yuga Labs CEO Daniel Alegre Made A Statement On X (Formerly Known As Twitter) The Next Day, Revealing The Company's Plans to Phase Out the Use of Opensea's Sea port MarketPlace SART Contract. , with the goal of completion by February 2024, aligning with OpenSea's approach.
Alegre emphasized Yuga Labs' commitment to protecting creators' royalties and ensuring proper compensation for their work. This move was well-received within the Bored Ape Yacht Club community, as well as by other content creators and NFT project founders who praised the company' s stance on creator royalties.
Dotta, CEO and co-founder of the Forgotten Runes Wizards Cult NFT project, expressed excitement about how Yuga Labs is addressing OpenSea and noted the strength of creators in entering the paid market. Luca Netz, CEO of the Pudgy Penguins NFT project, praised Yu ga Labs' decision as a "great move," hinting at the possibility of following a similar path.
The ongoing debate within the NFT community centers around creator royalties and their enforcement. While enforcing royalties was commonplace during the early NFT boom in 2021, platforms like Blur gained popularity by offering zero transaction fees and optional creator royalty payment models. This divide reflects differing opinions on compensation methods for creators within the NFT ecosystem.
