Opensea Capitulates to Community, Will Continue Enforcing Royalties

Betty, founder of Deadfellaz, successfully led over 500 project founders and creators in a public discussion with Opensea to prevent them from eliminating creator royalties on their marketplace. Despite the race-to-the-bottom pressure on all marketplaces, Opensea capitulated and agreed to continue to enforce creators’ fees on all existing collections, a reversal of their recent decision.

Like all marketplaces in the space, Opensea was put in a tough position because in just the past 2 weeks, royalty payments have declined from 77% to 56%, ecosystem-wide. This decision is likely to mean that they can expect to have far fewer listings on their platform as sellers try to maximize gains by going to Opensea's 0% creator-fee competitors. It could, however, be a good move if smart contracts are found to be legally binding contracts in the courts, as Opensea would be the only marketplace left standing.