“OpenSea Offers Zero-Fee Trading for a Limited Period”

OpenSea, the leading NFT marketplace, recently announced in a Tweet on Feb. 17 that it would be waiving its marketplace fee temporarily in order to compete with the zero-fee platform Blur. This policy reversal was made in response to a shift in the NFT ecosystem towards marketplaces that don’t fully enforce creator royalties. OpenSea also revised its blocklist of other marketplaces, now permitting sales on those with similar policies, including Blur.

The competition between the two intensified after Blur’s native token was launched on Tuesday, reaching a 24-hour trading volume of $509 million and trading at around the $1 mark after launching at $5.00. Blur passed OpenSea in trading volume for the first time since its inception in October, but OpenSea still had much higher weekly volume.

On Feb. 15, Blur published a blog post aimed at NFT creators, outlining the differences in royalty payment options between the two platforms and encouraging its users to blocklist OpenSea so that creators can receive full royalties. This has caused a rift between the two platforms, with OpenSea taking a hardline stance on the matter by launching a royalty enforcement tool in November, a move they have since backtracked on.

The debate over creator royalties has caused a race to the bottom, with many NFT platforms removing fees and royalties. OpenSea admitted on Friday that 80% of total ecosystem volume does not pay full creator earnings and the majority of the volume has moved to a zero-fee environment. The battle for NFT marketplace share is heating up as the gap between the two platforms is becoming increasingly intense.
Source: https://cryptoslate.com/in-highly-controversial-move-opensea-lowers-fees-to-0-for-limited-time/