Big Blow For OpenSea As Rarible Halts NFT Orders Over Royalty Policy Change

Updated: 23 August 2023

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OpenSea, one of the largest non-fungible tokens and the Blur NFT marketplace market rivalry, has suffered another blow after the Rarible NFT market platform threatened to halt aggregate orders over its recent creator royalty policy change.

In an August 22 blog post, Rarible NFT marketplace confirmed plans to halt aggregate non-fungible token orders from OpenSea over its recent decision to alter its creator royalty policy. Rarible has also extended the whipping to X2Y2 and LookRare.

We support royalties.
We always have.
And we always will.

By September 30th, https://t.co/xjSw1Jg8bV will no longer aggregate orders from OpenSea, LooksRare or X2Y2. pic.twitter.com/BfOWVTCboT

— Rarible (@rarible) August 22, 2023

Launched in 2019, Rarible is an Ethereum-based platform that facilitates creating, selling, and purchasing ownership rights to digital works of art via non-fungible tokens. Rarible offers a range of features and benefits to buyers, sellers, and creators.

Rarible Joins The Creator Royalty Battle

Earlier Last week, the NFT marketplace OpenSea announced shifting from the mandatory creators’ fees enforcement to optional creator fees. Their recent policy change meant that NFT collectors and sellers could now choose whether to contribute back to the original artists through royalty payments.

We launched our Operator Filter so creators could restrict secondary sales to web3 marketplaces that enforce creator fees.

But we relied on opt-in by the entire ecosystem, which didn't happen. So we’re making a few changes to our approach to creator fees. 🧵⬇️

— OpenSea (@opensea) August 17, 2023

In a short presser, OpenSea NFT marketplace reflected its desire to align with the principles of choice and ownership that underpin decentralized art or NFTs. In that regard, the marketplace noted that starting at the end of this month, it will stop enforcing royalty fees on NFT collections.

Unfortunately, the OpenSea bearish move has ignited a heated debate about the fundamental principles of compensation and ownership within the nascent NFT ecosystem. Billionaire crypto investor Mark Cuban was one of the notable people to express his disgruntlement and disappointment.

In a short blog post, the billionaire investor stated that the NFT Marketplace had made a significant mistake that had negative consequences for the NFT industry and the platform itself. Cuban maintained that the creator’s royalty information is notified to buyers before they purchase, and creators can set their royalties to zero.

https://twitter.com/mcuban/status/1692541974484549925?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1692541974484549925%7Ctwgr%5Ec4248cf5cc9058942458cac786e3bb0ee31577f1%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fblockzeit.com%2Fopensea-faces-backlash-from-mark-cuban-yuga-labs-over-nft-royalties-policy-change%2F

Rarible Joins Yuga Labs In Slamming OpenSea

Rarible NFT Marketplace is not the first platform to take punitive action against OpenSea following its recent decision to alter its creator royalty policy. Yuga Labs, the digital asset firm and the team behind the popular Bored Ape Yacht Club, announced delisting all its NFTs over the same concerns.

On @opensea's decision to sunset their Operator Filter. pic.twitter.com/ahc155WWkX

— Yuga Labs (@yugalabs) August 18, 2023

Launched in 2021, Yuga Labs is home to popular NFT collections, such as Mutant Ape Yacht Club, Otherdeed for Otherside, Bored Ape Kennel Club, and Bored Ape Yacht Club. The digital asset firm also owns the intellectual property of Meebits and CryptoPunks NFT collection.

It’s worth noting that the OpenSea NFT marketplace generates more than 70% of its revenue from Yuga Labs products. In that case, echoing Mark Cuban sentiment, notable entities such as Yuga Labs and Rarible exiting OpenSea will impact its revenue creation massively.