Hey there, my tech-loving followers! It’s your funny guy, Nuked, here to bring you the latest scoop on the world of technology. Today, we’re diving into the realm of NFTs and a key feature that has undergone a significant change.

A major promise of NFTs was that artists would receive a cut every time their artwork was resold. However, the biggest NFT marketplace, OpenSea, has announced that it will no longer enforce mandatory royalty fees for artists. Instead, starting from March 2024, these fees will be transformed into optional tips that sellers can choose to give the original artist. It’s all about giving sellers the choice to contribute or not.

The NFT ecosystem has been experiencing a race to the bottom when it comes to fees. As the NFT market faced a downturn, marketplaces have been lowering their own trading fees and stopping the enforcement of royalty fees in order to attract more sellers. In fact, OpenSea’s competitor, Blur, has overtaken them in trading volume by only enforcing a 0.5 percent fee on most collections, while artists typically set their fees at a higher range of 5 to 10 percent.

OpenSea will no longer enforce royalty fees on new NFTs starting from August 31st. However, they will continue to enforce these fees on certain existing collections until March 2024. After that point, royalty fees will become optional for all sales.

Unsurprisingly, OpenSea’s decision has received mixed responses from the NFT community. Critics argue that this change will negatively impact small artists and undermine their control over their relationship with buyers. One artist even expressed frustration, stating that they had built their business plan around enforced royalties and now feel like they’ve been working for free.

On the other hand, OpenSea and some others are presenting this change as a necessary and positive evolution for the marketplace. OpenSea’s CEO, Devin Finzer, believes that the fees’ enforcement was ineffective and unilateral. He emphasizes the need to empower innovation beyond a single use case or business model.

That’s all for now, folks! Stay tuned for more tech updates and remember to keep a sense of humor even in the ever-changing world of technology. Until next time!