Rarible deprecates NFT aggregation from OpenSea and supports royalties for authors

Rarible, one of the largest NFT venues, in response to OpenSea’s refusal to pay royalties to authors, spoke out today and introduced a number of changes that will significantly affect the market.

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

In particular:

• Starting September 30, the site will stop aggregating NFTs from OpenSea, LooksRare and X2Y2. These are the marketplaces that have publicly waived royalties on creators. Thus, Rarible prioritizes the rights and income of authors. That is, now it will simply be impossible to trade popular NFTs on Rarible, which were originally placed on these sites.
• Statement includes site management’s opinion on royalties. Namely, Rarible aims to provide artists with a fair share of royalties from secondary sales. The platform aims to create a more transparent and fairer ecosystem in line with the spirit of the decentralized space. Also, Alex Salnikov, Co-founder of Rarible, said that through its platform, the company will respect true ownership and ensure that “creativity is valued and compensated.”

We support creators and artists, and won’t back marketplaces neglecting royalties.

• As a sign of support, the company has changed its Twitter logo to a ‘%’ symbol and changed its status to Creator Support.
• The NFT marketplace has prepared guidelines for contributors that include information on how to protect their rewards from resale.

What is the market reaction to Rarible’s statements and what are the possible prospects?

As a result, in less than a day from the announcement on Rarible, the trading volume increased by 585%. And this is a natural reaction of the market to such a statement. By focusing solely on its royalty system, Rarible demonstrates a commitment to clear and transparent deals that prioritize creators’ rights and earnings. Perhaps the move could create a broader industry trend towards transparency and fair compensation, possibly encouraging other platforms to follow suit.

However, in the longer term, this change may lead to a reduction in order volume on the platform as Rarible separates from other major NFT marketplaces. The full implications of this move for the wider NFT ecosystem remain to be seen, and careful monitoring of the situation will be critical to understanding its implications.

Globally, for the NFT market, this step is beautiful and symbolic, isn’t it?