NFTs

NFT Rout Crushes $1.5 Billion Windfall for Artists as Markets Slash Royalties

  • Payouts to NFT content creators sank 98% from a peak in 2022
  • Exchanges for NFTs chopped royalty rates amid a bear market

Artwork at the Digital Art Fair in Hong Kong.

Photographer: Lam Yik/Bloomberg
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

Tension between traders and creators of digital collectibles is deepening amid a painful slump in the market for nonfungible tokens.

The friction stems from moves by top NFT exchanges Blur and OpenSea to slash royalty rates payable to artists when a token’s ownership changes, in the hope that lower costs will lift depressed levels of buying and selling.