Blur implements full creator royalties for non-OpenSea collections
NFT marketplace Blur declared that it would implement a policy of full creator royalties for any collection that prevents trading on OpenSea. The move by Blur represents a significant increase in aggression towards its primary competitor.
Blur platform to implement creator royalties
The Blur platform will now enforce any royalty fee requested by the original NFT collection creators. The only condition imposed is that the creator blocks the trading of their collections on OpenSea, the world’s leading NFT marketplace, and Blur’s number-one competitor. According to Blur, this policy change was implemented in response to what they see as OpenSea’s non-competitive practices.
Blur’s leadership also frames this change as a necessary survival tactic, explaining that OpenSea’s dominance in the NFT marketplace has allowed them to dictate the terms of the market, including royalty fees.
By enforcing royalty fees on their platform, Blur hopes to create a more level playing field for NFT creators and to provide an alternative platform that is more supportive of creators. Moreover, while blocking trading on OpenSea, creators can ensure that their collections are sold exclusively on Blur, providing more revenue for the creators.
The company will introduce a blocklist tool to enable creators to prevent their NFTs from being traded on any marketplace that does not respect creator royalties. Collections that chose to use the tool would be assured full enforcement of their creator royalties on OpenSea.
Blur trading volume surges despite the blocklist tool weakening its NFT value proposition
The decision impacted Blur’s value proposition to NFT artists since royalty fees, especially for popular collections, could generate millions in revenue. The move was a major blow to Blur’s business model, given the importance of OpenSea as a marketplace for NFTs.
During the latter part of 2022, the NFT ecosystem experienced a revival partially fueled by new entrants to the market. There is somewhat of a head-to-head competition between Blur and OpenSea in NFT marketplaces.
However, Blur has reportedly taken a groundbreaking step to bypass the blocklist controls implemented by OpenSea. According to the announcement made about its airdrop, the company is adopting innovative methods for an unprecedented launch.
Market analysts have reported that in December 2022, the NFT sales volume on the marketplace amounted to $484 million, almost twice the volume on OpenSea, which is currently the largest NFT marketplace in the world.
NFT marketplace report: Source dune.com
Furthermore, in the last 24 hours, the number of unique traders engaging in transactions on the marketplace has grown by almost 16%, reaching a total of 4,353. In contrast, OpenSea experienced a 6% decrease during the same period.
Experts suggest that the platform’s popularity can be attributed to its rapid transaction speeds and intuitive user interface, as noted by DappRadar.
With an impressive market start and a rapidly growing user base, Blur has the potential to unseat OpenSea as the top NFT marketplace. The former’s recent airdrop event saw users bag thousands of BLUR tokens. Blur also recorded a $500M trading volume less than a day after the airdrop.
