Magic Eden and Bored Ape Yacht Club Collaborate on Ethereum Platform
Multi-chain NFT marketplace Magic Eden has announced a partnership with Bored Ape Yacht Club creator Yuga Labs to launch a new Ethereum platform by the end of the year. The collaboration includes a commitment to honor creator royalties on NFT sales, with Magic Eden having a contractual obligation to pay Yuga Labs its share of secondary market sales. The revamped Ethereum marketplace will utilize new smart contracts with technical innovations to ensure that royalties are paid out during secondary market sales. The standard ERC-721 Ethereum non-fungible token (NFT) standard will be used, and certain properties of the marketplace contract will enforce royalties.
Royalties Disputes and OpenSea Criticism
A creator royalty is a small fee taken from the sale price of an NFT that benefits the artist or company behind the project. However, some marketplaces began to let traders skip or pay smaller amounts for creator fees, leading to major players like OpenSea stopping enforcement of royalties. Yuga Labs criticized OpenSea’s decision and stated that it would only engage with marketplaces that uphold creator royalties. Magic Eden also switched to optional royalties but now seeks to support creators through technical solutions and enforce royalties standards on Ethereum.
Shifting Strategies and Withholding Benefits
Magic Eden, known for its presence on Solana, went through changes regarding royalties enforcement but always aimed to support creators. The platform plans to address any shortcomings in its technical solution for enforcing royalties on Ethereum. Yuga Labs may withhold future benefits from those who buy NFTs elsewhere and encourage traders to use marketplaces that enforce royalties. However, the team is still considering the specifics of this approach and prefers not to burden consumers with consequences. They believe that partnering with Magic Eden will be the solution to improve creator royalties enforcement.
Hot Take: A Collaborative Effort to Uphold Creator Royalties
Magic Eden and Bored Ape Yacht Club’s collaboration to launch an Ethereum platform demonstrates a commitment to honor creator royalties on NFT sales. By using new smart contracts with technical innovations, they aim to ensure that royalties are paid out during secondary market sales. This partnership seeks to address the declining enforcement of creator royalties in the NFT space, with Magic Eden taking steps to support creators and uphold their rights. The collaboration also opens up the opportunity for other marketplaces and NFT creators to adopt similar protections and standards. It is a significant move towards fair treatment of content creators in the evolving NFT ecosystem.