OpenSea Drops Royalties Amid Plunging NFT Market, SEC Crackdown

OpenSea, once the leading NFT marketplace, rescinded mandatory royalty payments after losing market share to no-fee competitor Blur.
Without royalty guarantees, the appeal of creating NFT-linked art lessens, as prices plunge.
Blur's no-fees and optional royalties quickly attracted sellers and buyers seeking quick returns.
NFT trading volume has plummeted 60% from last year as traders now dominate the market.
The SEC alleges Impact Theory sold unregistered securities via NFTs that paid the company royalties.

forbes.com

Relevant topic timeline:

8/20/2023

Billionaire Mark Cuban Says NFT Marketplace OpenSea Making ‘Huge Mistake’ With New Royalty System - The Daily Hodl

Prominent billionaire Mark Cuban believes that OpenSea's decision to disable its royalty system for NFTs is a major mistake that diminishes trust in the platform and hurts the NFT industry. He suggests a different approach where transactions for NFTs that pay their royalties are free, with OpenSea taking a percentage of the royalty as a fee. Cuban supports royalties for content creators as a way for them to continue getting paid even on secondary market sales.

8/23/2023

Bitcoin Ordinals volume dips 98%, OpenSea to disable royalty tool, and Frend.tech hype: Nifty Newsletter

Summary: The Nifty Newsletter highlights the launch of decentralized social media platform Frend.tech with over 100,000 users, OpenSea disabling its on-chain royalty enforcement tool, Sotheby's and Yuga Labs facing a lawsuit from Bored Ape investors, a significant decline in Bitcoin Ordinals NFT trading volume, and the collapse of the "charitable" NFT project Orica.

9/18/2023

SEC Charges Celebrity-Backed Stoner Cats NFT Creators for Unregistered Securities Sale, Leading to NFT Ban and $1 Million Fine

The Stoner Cats NFT project, tied to a celebrity-packed animated series, can no longer be traded on major marketplaces like OpenSea, Blur, and Rarible due to charges by the SEC for selling unregistered securities.

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Posted 9/17/2023, 10:30:00 AM