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OpenSea, one of the largest NFT marketplaces, recently announced some significant changes in its fee structure and policies. In a tweet posted on February 17th, the company announced that it would be dropping its OpenSea fee to 0% for a limited time, while also moving to a new minimum 0.5% creator earnings model for all collections that do not use on-chain enforcement.
A Shift in the NFT Ecosystem
The move comes amid what the company calls a “massive shift in the NFT ecosystem” and an acceleration in the adoption of NFT marketplaces that do not fully enforce creator earnings. According to the tweet, approximately 80% of total ecosystem volume does not pay full creator earnings, and the majority of volume has moved to a zero-fee environment.
OpenSea has been working to defend creator earnings on all collections and introduced an operator filter that would allow creators to secure their revenue stream from the ongoing resale of their work. However, recent events, including Blur’s decision to roll back creator earnings and the false choice they’re forcing creators to make between liquidity on Blur or OpenSea, have shown that the company’s attempts are not working.
New Fee Structure and Policies
In response, OpenSea is moving to a different fee structure that reflects the needs of today’s ecosystem. By dropping its fee to 0% for a promotional period of time and moving to a minimum 0.5% creator earnings model, the company hopes to find the right balance of incentives and motivations for all ecosystem participants, including creators, collectors, and power buyers and sellers.
Additionally, the company is updating the operator filter to allow sales using NFT marketplaces with the same policies, including Blur, as they make good on their promise. This means that creators will no longer have to make the false choice between receiving earnings on OpenSea or Blur.
A New Era for OpenSea
The changes represent the start of a new era for OpenSea, and the company is excited to test this new model and explore ways to reward its most loyal users. As NFTs continue to gain traction, it will be interesting to see how other marketplaces respond to these changes and whether they will also move to a more creator-friendly fee structure and policies.
It remains to be seen whether these changes will have a positive impact on the NFT ecosystem and whether more marketplaces will follow OpenSea’s lead. However, it is clear that OpenSea is committed to defending creator earnings and finding a sustainable model that benefits all participants in the ecosystem.