OpenSea Temporarily Eliminates Fees ── Overheated Competition with Blur | coindesk JAPAN | Coindesk Japan

On February 17th, OpenSea, a popular NFT marketplace, announced that it would temporarily abolish fees, intensifying the market share battle with Blur, which is gaining popularity due to its free fees.

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

OpenSea tweeted that it will set the commission to 0% for a “limited time” and default to no payment for creator royalties, which had been selectable from 0.5%.

We have also adjusted the blocklist for marketplaces that do not honor royalty payments to creators, allowing NFT sales on marketplaces with the same policy. This includes Blur, he said, noting that “they deliver on their promise” so creators won’t be forced to choose between two platforms to earn royalties.

“Start of a new era for OpenSea. We look forward to testing this model and finding the right balance of incentives and motivation for all ecosystem participants, including creators, collectors, power buyers and sellers.” OpenSea tweet)

Tensions between Blur and OpenSea increased with the release of Blur’s native token on February 14th. On the following day, the 15th, Blur’s trading volume surpassed OpenSea’s for the first time since its inception in October.

Related article: NFT trading volume, Blur surpasses OpenSea on 15th: Data

OpenSea has taken a tough stance on the creator royalty debate, releasing a tool for creators to earn royalties in November. The tool also had the ability to block NFT collections on OpenSea from being resold on marketplaces like X2Y2 and Blur that don’t enforce royalties.

In January, Blur reportedly found a workaround for the tool, allowing OpenSea royalties to remain with Blur. On the 15th, Blur published a blog for NFT creators, explaining the difference between royalty payments on their platform and OpenSea, and recommending that they block OpenSea in order to fully collect royalties on their platform.

｜Translation: coindesk JAPAN
｜Editing: Takayuki Masuda
｜Image: Shutterstock
｜Original: OpenSea Goes Zero-Fee, Creator Royalties Optional