OpenSea Offers a Swift Response to Blur

A few days after Blur promised to reward NFT creators that block their collections from trading on OpenSea, the leading NFT marketplace has hit back by dropping its platform and creator royalty fees. OpenSea made the announcement via a Twitter thread that explains the circumstances that led to their current position.

We’re making some big changes today:
1) OpenSea fee → 0% for a limited time
2) 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

The statement notes that for a “promotional period,” OpenSea will charge no marketplace fees, while also transitioning to an optional creator earnings model, with 0.5% being the minimum, although sellers can pay more if they like. The second rule applies to all collections that don’t use on-chain enforcement, whether old or new.

In addition, OpenSea has updated its operator filter, thus allowing users to sell NFTs on marketplaces that don’t fully honor royalty payments to creators. This includes Blur, which complained of OpenSea using underhanded tactics to block sales on its platform. Thus, creators won’t be forced to choose between the two platforms to earn royalties on their collections.

“This is the start of a new era for OpenSea. We’re excited to test this model and find the right balance of incentives and motivations for all ecosystem participants – creators, collectors, and power buyers and sellers.”

Blur’s Meteoric Rise Has Put OpenSea Under Pressure

OpenSea has experienced stiff competition for a share of the NFT marketplace since Blur launched last October. To win over users, Blur has added a bunch of incentives that have worked like magic, helping the platform become the main competitor to OpenSea. The platform has gotten so big that OpenSea can’t simply ignore it, and now they are feeling the pressure.

“Today, 80% of total ecosystem volume does not pay full creator earnings, and the majority of volume (even accounting for inorganic activity) has moved to a zero-fee environment.” Therefore, despite their best efforts to defend creator royalties, they have fallen short. Thus, they feel a change in strategy is inevitable.

“While we continue to uphold on-chain enforcement through the operator filter, we’re moving to a different fee structure that reflects the needs of today’s ecosystem.”

Following the tweet, Blur has continued to see astronomical trading activity, now overtaking OpenSea’s trading volumes as high level collectors look to secure more of its rewards token. As of writing, Blur has recorded over $500 million in Ethereum sales in the last week alone.

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*All investment/financial opinions expressed by NFT Plazas are from the personal research and experience of our site moderators and are intended as educational material only. Individuals are required to fully research any product prior to making any kind of investment.