OpenSea implements 0% fees to win over NFT userbase lost to Blur

Published at: Feb. 18, 2023

Major nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea announced a massive structuring around lower platform fees and greater creator earnings as competing marketplaces continue to drain away its once dominant user base.

On Feb. 18, NFT marketplace Blur surpassed OpenSea in daily Ethereum (ETH) trading volume as users — anticipating greater returns on their NFT investments — are looking for a trading arena that works in their favor, shows Nansen data.

As a reactionary measure, OpenSea announced three major changes to win back its migrating customers. The measures include a 0% fee for a limited time, introducing optional creator earnings and leniency on other operators.

We’re making some big changes today:1) OpenSea fee → 0% for a limited time2) Moving to optional creator earnings (0.5% min) for all collections without on-chain enforcement (old & new)3) Marketplaces with the same policies will not be blocked by the operator filter

— OpenSea (@opensea) February 17, 2023

OpenSea admitted losing users to other “NFT marketplaces that don’t fully enforce creator earnings,” and the new measures are an attempt to revitalize 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 believes that it defended creator earnings on all collections while reiterating its support for Operator Filter — a function that was aimed at helping creators secure their revenue for the resale of their work. However, this filter proactively blocked recommendations of marketplaces that sported the same policies.

Blur’s daily trading volume supremacy can be attributed to its new royalty policy showcasing differences in royalty payment options between its platform and OpenSea. It read:

“OpenSea’s current royalty policy prevents collections from being able to earn royalties everywhere. They have cited various reasons for this (see FAQ), but the end result is that creators are limited to earning royalties on only one platform at a time.”

Amid the royalty war between the two marketplaces, community members highlighted the importance of competition in the industry. If it wasn’t for zero royalty marketplaces, bigger players like OpenSea would eventually increase fee structure, which would have a negative impact on creators and collectors.

Moreover, OpenSea plans to continue testing the model and identify what works best for the community and the organization. Community members speculate that OpenSea would probably increase its platform fees in the future if it successfully manages to amass its lost customers — a predatory move often noticed in industries with less competition.

YouTube’s appointment of new CEO Neal Mohan was perceived as a win for the crypto community considering Mohan’s inclination to use NFTs and Web3 as revenue streams for creators.

Thank you, @SusanWojcicki. It's been amazing to work with you over the years. You've built YouTube into an extraordinary home for creators and viewers. I'm excited to continue this awesome and important mission. Looking forward to what lies ahead... https://t.co/Rg5jXv1NGb

— Neal Mohan (@nealmohan) February 16, 2023

As Cointelegraph reported, Mohan — while serving as YouTube’s chief product officer — outlined tentative plans in February 2022 to integrate features such as Metaverse-based content experiences and content tokenization via NFTs.