Billionaire investor Mark Cuban criticized OpenSea’s decision to make creator fees optional.
“Failure to collect and pay royalties on NFT sales is a HUGE mistake by OpenSea,” Cuban wrote on social media. “It reduced confidence in the platform and hurts the industry. And I say this as an OpenSea investor.”
In response to someone who advocates removing NFT royalties, Cuban said, “The buyer knows what the royalties are before they buy it. The maker can set the royalties to zero. They are part of the smart contract that the NFT is coining. It’s not smart. It’s desperation.”
Optional royalty approach
OpenSea announced yesterday that it would disable its royalty enforcement tool, OpenSea Operator Filter, and make creator fees optional for new collections starting after August 31.
The platform said it was making the change to do away with “ineffective, one-sided enforcement” of NFT royalties — without removing them entirely.
“The optional royalty approach kills future uses well beyond collectibles,” Cuban added. “That’s where most of the money will be.”