To charge fees, or not to charge fees? That is the question.
OpenSea will let creators decide.
On Saturday, November 5th, NFT marketplace OpenSea launched a tool to enforce creator fees. The tool is a snippet of code that creators can add to both new and existing (upgradeable) smart contracts. The code limits NFT sales to marketplaces that charge creator fees. The change goes into effect at 12 pm on Tuesday, November 8th.
The new tool gives creators more control over their business model. They decide how to price and profit from their NFT collections — not the marketplace. If they want to make money only on primary sales, they can. If they want creator royalties, they have that option as well.
This is OpenSea’s first attempt at on-chain enforcement, but it sees it as the future of creator fees. In its announcement, OpenSea stated that creator fees with on-chain enforcement will win out over ones without them. And that they will help creators monetize their work more effectively.
To make this happen, OpenSea plans to launch other tools and improvements. And it is calling on its community for help. It will be reaching out to creators and collectors to gather feedback. Given how controversial creator fees are within the NFT community, this seems to be a smart approach.
OpenSea Has Steadily Shipped New Features in 2022
OpenSea hasn’t gotten complacent as one of the biggest NFT marketplaces. At RaritySniper, we’ve covered several stories about OpenSea releasing new features and upgrades. Here are three.
In January of 2022, OpenSea was allegedly working on Solana and Phantom Wallet integrations. Leaked images hinted at a potential integration of the Solana blockchain, which later came to fruition.
In July of 2022, OpenSea unveiled its new Solana launchpad. The launchpad allows NFT creators to host their entire mint on OpenSea and collect post-mint and secondary sales. The move integrated Solana into its Ethereum NFT marketplace, creating a multi-chain experience.
In November of 2022, OpenSea released a new tool for NFT authenticity. The copymint detection system identifies scam projects within seconds of an NFT mint. The tool promotes security, authenticity, and trust in the NFT ecosystem.
Since OpenSea’s founding in 2017, the NFT marketplace has seen a wave of new entrants. To rise above the tide, they’ll need to continue to launch creator and collector-friendly features as they’ve been doing throughout 2022.