NFT aggregator Rarible has experienced a significant surge in trading volume within 24 hours after publicly declaring its staunch support for upholding NFT creator royalties. This move comes in response to rival NFT marketplaces like OpenSea retracting their support for royalty enforcement, leading other NFT projects to follow suit.
Volume Soars Following Commitment
Rarible’s trading volume surged by an impressive 585% over the span of 24 hours, as reported by DappRadar, reaching a total of over $45,000 on August 23rd. While these figures might appear modest in comparison to its competitors, the rapid volume increase outpaced OpenSea and LooksRare. The latter two experienced drops of approximately 19% and 74%, respectively, during the same period. X2Y2, on the other hand, observed a modest volume increase of 8.8%.
1/ Following @rarible's decision to maintain creator royalties, and remove both @opensea and @blur_io from their aggregation data, Rarible's trading volume is up 637% in the past 24h.
Do you think Rarible is right? 🤔
View @rarible on DappRadar 👇https://t.co/9hh0AQa7Nj pic.twitter.com/cg1dPChYar
— DappRadar (@DappRadar) August 23, 2023
Firm Stance on Royalties
The upswing in Rarible’s trading volume was catalyzed by co-founder Alex Salnikov’s announcement on August 22nd that the platform “will no longer support marketplaces that neglect royalties.” Furthermore, Rarible plans to cease aggregating orders from OpenSea, LooksRare, and X2Y2 by September 30th. Salnikov emphasized the significance of upholding the value and compensation of creativity within the NFT space, highlighting that this commitment drives the essence of the industry.
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
Royalty Landscape Shift
OpenSea, a major competitor, had earlier abandoned its practice of enforcing NFT creator royalties in February. This decision was prompted by the rise of Blur, another prominent NFT marketplace that opted out of enforcing creator royalties. On August 17th, OpenSea took a step further and decided to discontinue its royalty enforcement tool, allowing creators to blacklist non-royalty-enforcing marketplaces due to lackluster adoption. However, this shift has led to an industry-wide impact, as Ethereum-based NFT projects reported a drop in royalties, as indicated by July data from analytics firm Nansen.
Rarible’s resolute commitment to supporting NFT creator royalties has not only rejuvenated its trading volume but has also ignited a renewed focus on the critical issue of fair compensation within the NFT ecosystem.
