OpenSea is letting go of its on-chain royalty enforcer tool that allows creators to blacklist NFT marketplaces that do not enforce royalties. As per the official announcement, the decision against the tool, dubbed Operator Filter, would be put into effect on Aug 31 this year. OpenSea introduced the Operator Filter feature back in 2022, and it was defined as a simple code snippet that could restrict NFT sales to only marketplaces that enforced creator fees. As time continued to pass, it became increasingly evident that the tool did not work out the way it was originally planned.
At the same time, the tool did not receive the expected level of support from the wider NFT ecosystem. The CEO of OpenSea, Devin Finzer, stated that multiple NFT marketplaces including Blur, Dew, and LooksRare found their way around the Operator Filter by integrating the Seaport Protocol to bypass the blacklist and avoid creator fees. OpenSea also became a target of increased pushback from creators who viewed the tool as encroaching on their control in the marketplaces where their collections were sold.
Creator fees are of utmost importance for a series of business models, but it is still one of the countless revenue streams available to creators. It was further stated that OpenSea has currently dedicated a great percentage of its roadmap to power new use cases, which would start from both digital and physical redeemables. Those use cases would be merchandised in a better way across primary and secondary experiences.
The Decision of OpenSea Might Hurt NFT Artists
The royalty enforcer tool would stop blocking marketplaces from the end of this month. Furthermore, any collection that uses the tool for existing collections on non-Ethereum blockchains would result in the creator’s preferred fees being forced up to Feb 29, 2024. As per the current situation, the masses believe that the decision would serve as a major blow to NFT artists seeking to earn passive income.
A great percentage of the NFT community expressed their disappointment toward the decision of OpenSea and argued how collectors should support NFT artists on platforms that mandate royalties. However, some people believe that it was, indeed, the right move as the business model aimed to profit a little too much off hype trading.
