In this ‘crypto winter’ season, it appears that the non-fungible token (NFT) scene is simmering again, not because of rising sales but of a brewing war between two of Solana’s leading NFT marketplaces: Magic Eden and Yawww.
This all-out war stems from the controversial 0% NFT royalty fees championed by Yawww. As much as it is a boon for buyers, it is also a bane for artists, creators, and NFT project runners that rely on secondary sales to maintain operations after mint.
Now, the NFT space is faced with a critical question.
Whom should it favor: the holders or the creators?
Unfortunately, the space hasn’t conceded on one choice but forked itself into two different paths, driven mainly by two camps: one led by Magic Eden and the other by Yawww. But they are far from the only platforms involved.
Let’s take a look at what’s happening in the field, which may soon turn into a war-torn battlefield.
How is the NFT Space Dealing with the 0% Royalty?
Yawww, a new NFT marketplace on the block, has introduced a radical implementation that allows users to decide the royalty fees they are willing to pay. Note that it doesn’t impose this rule to eliminate creator royalties but to provide buyers the option to adjust the price they want to pay (which they can even bring down to zero).
But despite these adjustment options, it is clear that it will still hurt the main revenue source of most NFT artists and projects. Despite the wave of criticisms it has received, Yawww hasn’t shown any signs of backing out, as a growing army of supporters is expressing support for the platform’s cause.
Yawww’s offering is so disruptive, for better or worse, that it could potentially affect a lot of collections’ survival and change the rules of the NFT space forever.
As a response, many projects are considering several preventive measures to mitigate the effects of this 0% royalty. These options include reducing their royalty fees, building better communities that can genuinely support their collections, or flagging any NFTs detected on 0% royalty marketplaces.
However, if the majority of the industry leans on the 0% royalty fee, projects may instead establish new revenue sources outside royalty fees, which some collections have managed to pull off, but there aren’t a lot of cases like this.
Magic Eden Fights Back
While the NFT realm is currently faced with two hard choices, Magic Eden chose not to dwell on these options. Instead, it has worked with multiple projects in the industry to repel the zero-percent threat right away.
In a tweet today, it announced the launch of a ‘deterrent tool’ called MetaShield, which equips NFT creators with the ability to deal with users buying their creations on royalty-free marketplaces.
MetaShield will enable founders to detect whenever their holders are not doing ‘right’ by them, and penalize them accordingly. There are multiple ways projects can deter people from buying in zero-royalty marketplaces, such as updating the NFT metadata, blurring the images, or flagging the NFT.
Moreover, buyers will eventually carry the burdens of purchasing NFTs that bypass royalty fees. For NFTs protected by MetaShield, buyers must pay their royalty fee debts to “unshield” and remove any limitations that artists have implemented on these assets.
The Biggest Bombshell? More Tools to Come
MetaShield has served as a strong message for Yawww and others that plans to follow its path. Magic Eden and everyone who supports its stance will fight this disruptive trend.
But the biggest bombshell it has unloaded is that MetaShield won’t be its last tool to deter “0%” supporters. The marketplace clearly stated that, with the support from other projects, it would soon unleash more tools to repel this trend further and protect the rights of NFT artists and projects.
Indeed, the NFT space is in for a big showdown. Grab some popcorn because this is only the beginning of the saga.
Join our newsletter as we build a community of AI and web3 pioneers.
The next 3-5 years is when new industry titans will emerge, and we want you to be one of them.
Benefits include:
- Receive updates on the most significant trends
- Receive crucial insights that will help you stay ahead in the tech world
- The chance to be part of our OG community, which will have exclusive membership perks
