The NFT marketplace ecosystem is shaping up as Blur’s 0% fee structure gives it an edge over Opensea. The latter has been forced to introduce a 0% fee as well even for a limited time.
According to the release from Opensea, the 0% fee is for a limited time. The update also stated that the platform will migrate to optional creator earning for old and new NFTs that are not subject to on-chain enforcement.
As previously reported by Cryptoinfowatch, on-chain data shows that Blur overtook Open Sea in daily trading volume as users moved to the new platform with the hope to make more profit due to the 0% fee existing on the platform. Opensea now wants to reclaim the customers it lost to Blur. This is obviously why they are implementing the 0% fee, even if it is for a short time.
The platform said that a massive shift in the NFT space has seen the migration of users to what they called marketplaces that do not have in place all the mechanisms to enforce creator earnings. The update said that the trend, which started in October, has accelerated, leaving it as one of the few platforms that work towards protecting creators.
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
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
The NFT marketplace, Opensea, has announced that it is implementing a 0% fee on its platform. The announcement came as the leading marketplace for NFT collectibles faced a challenge from Blur, its market competitor made popular by its no-fee regimen.
Unrealized Vision
Opensea said that its policy of protecting creator earnings has not been as widespread as it anticipated because other marketplaces have not embraced the idea.
“We’ve worked to defend creator earnings on all collections when others didn’t. And when we introduced the Operator Filter, it was our belief that on-chain enforcement was the best way for creators to secure their revenue stream from the ongoing resale of their work. We thought we could catalyze widespread enforcement of creator earnings, and we hoped others might come up with more resilient solutions—this hasn’t happened.”
Opensea acknowledged that its strategy is not working with a competitor like Blur, which, according to them, has rolled back creator earnings and presented the user with “the false choice they’re forcing creators to make between liquidity on Blur or OpenSea.”
A fee structure that reflects ecosystem reality
Consequently, the platform said that it is adopting a different fee structure. This would reflects the demand of users and the ecosystem. The release made it clear that the new fee structure is a promotional offer that the platform intends to implement for a period of time.
The new fee structure being implemented by Opensea gives sellers the option of paying more. The release said that a minimum of 0.5% in creator earnings is part of its new fee structure.
All of this means increased competition for the industry. This is as the two marketplaces compete.At the base of the contention is a better royalty deal for creators. Opensea is aware that it will continue to lose customers to Blur unless it takes action. The platform is working to test different royalty models to remain competitive in the NFT ecosystem. They seems to acknowledge the edge that Blur’s royalty model has over theirs.
Now, creators won’t have to make the false choice between receiving earnings on OpenSea or Blur. 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.
It is left to be seen how well the new fee structure would work for the marketplace.
Image credit: Opensea logo
