- The Bored Ape creators have proposed a new NFT royalties enforcement system that contradicts OpenSea’s latest plan
- The system seeks to promote free NFT transfers between wallets but charges smart contract-based transfers
- They also think a DAO-led model would best capture the interests of NFT artists
The men behind Bored Ape creator Yuga Labs have proposed a DAO-led model to enforce NFT royalties, a day after leading NFT marketplace OpenSea revealed an on-chain tool to handle creator fees for new NFTs and an intention to turn to optional royalties for existing collections. The trio also envisions a future where NFT collectors can transfer their holdings between wallets for free.
No Royalties, No Motivation
Yuga Labs co-founders Kerem Atalay, Greg Solano and Wylie Aronow published a blog post on November 8 noting that it’s important for NFT artists to receive a percentage of their creations’ sale price in the secondary market. According to the co-founders, royalties are among the biggest reasons why the artists are in the ecosystem.
In the post, the BAYC executives proposed a decentralized allowlist that contains NFT marketplaces that support creator royalties. The list would be embedded in an artwork’s code for easier implementation.
Aronow explained that the list works by interacting with NFT transfer requests made by smart contracts instead of regular wallets. If the request comes from a marketplace supporting royalties, then the transfer is allowed, “if not, nope.”
An Allowlist, Not a Deny List
The post seems like a response to OpenSea’s revelation that they’re implementing an on-chain tool to handle creator fees for new NFTs and suggested that they may join Magic Eden in supporting optional royalties. OpenSea also intends to use a “deny list” to block anti-royalties marketplaces.
The BAYC creator’s difficult task, as per the post, is “figuring out” the structure of the DAO that will govern the implementation of the allowlist system. With time, the decision of whether or not to tip NFT creators will likely be influenced by major marketplaces like OpenSea and creators like and Yuga Labs
