Ethereum NFT creators, as per Galaxy Digital report, have been paid a total of $1.8 billion in royalties from secondary sales on marketplaces like OpenSea. The report states that creators’ royalty rates on OpenSea doubled over the past year on average, surging from a 3% cut of sales to 6%.
Moreover, there is a concentration of royalties among just 10 entities. This suggests that the NFT economy may be more centralized than some might have thought. Galaxy Digital’s report relies on data from Flipside Crypto. It shows that 482 NFT collections collectively earned 80% of all market royalties.
The report states that Yuga Labs with its Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs takes the top spot with the most royalties earned. It took in over $147 million from royalties alone. This is not surprising as Yuga Lab’s Otherside metaverse land mint raked in $561 million in total sales in just 24 hours. Galaxy Digital said OpenSea makes up over 80% of all Ethereum NFT marketplace volume. Creators when minting NFT projects through OpenSea can choose the percentage of royalties they like to receive from secondary sales. As such, they have collectively earned $76.7 million to date in royalties from such sales.
Other notable creators include Chiru Labs (Azuki), Proof (Moonbirds and Proof Collective), The Sandbox, Doodles, and VeeFriends. The report had Nike as the top earner with $91.6 million worth of earnings. There are also non-Nike-branded NFT offerings from RTFKT. Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, and Adidas have also made it to the list.
