Rocking the NFT Royalties Boat 🌊

Dear Bankless Nation,

The big news in NFT land right now? OpenSea just announced new changes to its creator fees policy.

In short, OpenSea is doubling down on optional NFT royalties.

Many NFT creatives have blasted the move, while others have said this kind of pivoting is inevitable.

The situation is rather confusing though, so next week I’ll be doing a full write-up that’ll cover all the basics here and the main critical and contrarian takes in play.

Be on the lookout for that post, but in the meantime thanks for reading this weekly recap and as always have a great weekend ✌️

-WMP

📊 The big picture

Over the past week, the floor-based market cap of the NFT space declined from 8.59 million ETH to 7.54 million ETH for a 12.22% drop 📉

🔝 7D top collections by volume

📰 General news

• Mirror added support for the Linea L2.
• OpenSea announced plans to remove its Operator Filter, paving the way to more uncertainty around NFT royalties.
• Party introduced Operators.
• Warpcast added support for Base and Zora Network NFTs.

🏆 Digital collectibles

• Cool Cats announced Clon, the collection’s creator, is stepping up into the project’s CEO position.
• Galverse embraced ERC6551, i.e. Token Bound Accounts.
• Yuga Labs said it will sunset support for OpenSea’s Seaport protocol.

🎨 Cryptoart & music

• Snowfro is teaming up with Prohibition to release heart+craft, an inclusive edition.
• Sound introduced a Collect on Playlists feature.

🎮 Decentralized gaming

• Axie Infinity unveiled Project T, an early prototype of a new Axie game that will center around digital meetups and mini-games.
• Pirate Nation is preparing to launch free-to-play (F2P) support.

🌐 Virtual worlds

• Decentraland introduced a new in-world camera system.

🪙 NFTfi

• Hook Protocol unveiled a new NFT price oracle system.

🎆 Mint spotlight: Jan Robert Leegte’s Coin

Jan Robert Leegte has been a pioneer in internet art for over two decades. In the context of NFTs, you may recall his Art Blocks release Windows, but his works have also been featured in major institutions like Centre Pompidou. He makes art about software, exploring its magic and nuances, and one of his latest creations is Coin. This “exploration of interface culture” is a series of onchain SVGs available in five materials, from Bronze to Void, and freely mintable starting today via mint.fun across Ethereum, Base, Optimism, or Zora Network!

🙇 New insightful reads to level up your web3 knowledge!

1. Fangting on onchain storytelling 📝

2. S4mmy.eth on trading Pokemon cards on Polygon 🔄

3. Rainy Reece on Draft Kings’ NFT sales 📈

✨ My NFT tool of the week: Cygaar’s Royalty Rate Cheatsheet

This isn’t so much a tool as it is a timely and helpful resource. But with OpenSea’s axing of its unilateral Operator Filter system, many NFTers are as confused as ever about the NFT royalties landscape. Toward this end, software engineer Cygaar just put together an awesome, concise cheatsheet that shows you exactly where the top NFT marketplaces currently stand here. Use this to help wrap your head around the current situation.

😜 Works like a charm…