Earnings from NFT royalties hit their lowest volume since 2021, according to crypto data firm Nansen.
“OpenSea had been the dominant platform for distributing royalties to NFT projects until February 2023,” Nansen stated in a new report on NFT royalties. It added that the landshape shifted when Blur introduced requirements for royalties and OpenSea adapted its policies.
NFT royalty data since September 2018. Image: Nansen
“Currently, OpenSea and Blur are on par with each other when it comes to the royalties paid through their respective marketplaces, with more royalties paid on Blur when the trading volume surges,” it noted.
While NFT earnings have declined, some top projects have still earned a lot from them. Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) has seen a total of 22,288 ETH ($42.2 million) in all-time royalties, per Nansen data. Azuki, which has been under a lot of controversy recently, has recorded 17,362 ETH ($33 million) in all-time royalties.
BAYC NFTs reached its lowest floor price in over a year this week. The minimum cost of this blue-chip NFT hit a low of 27.03 ETH (around $51,500) before rising to 29 ETH as of publication, The Block’s data shows. The price of other popular NFT projects fell as well, with CryptoPunks hitting a 41 ETH ($78,000) minimum cost and Azuki plummeting to a 8 ETH ($15,000) floor price.
In 2022, NFT creators earned $1.8 billion in royalties, with the top 10 projects netting $489 million in residual earnings.