Royalties earned by nonfungible token (NFT) projects have reached their lowest point in two years, according to a report from blockchain analytics firm Nansen.
Data shared with Cointelegraph highlights the low point for NFT royalties before the impact of a recent drop in the floor price of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFTs, as well as the controversy surrounding the launch of the Azuki Elementals collection.
April 2022 saw the peak of NFT royalties, with creators bagging an estimated $75.7 million in a single week. According to Nansen’s data, BAYC creator Yuga Labs has earned a total of $165.5 million in royalties across its portfolio of NFT collections.
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RTFKT has earned a total of $79.9 million in royalties from its collections, which include the likes of CloneX. Azuki has scored $58.2 million from its zuki, Beanz, Elemental Beansa and Elementals collections.
Proof, the studio behind Moonbirds, netted $35 million in revenues, while Doodles has made $27.4 million from its Doodles, Space Doodles, Genesis Box and Dooplicato collections. Pudgy Penguins’s revenue amounts to $8.3 million across its Pudgy Penguins, Lil Pudgys and Pudgy Rods drops.
Nansen highlights the importance of NFT royalties as an indicator of a studio’s financial foundation for ongoing development, given their role in generating revenue.
NFT marketplace OpenSea was primarily responsible for distributing royalty payments to NFT projects until 2023. The report notes that this trend changed once rival marketplace Blur implemented a policy that required a minimum of 0.5% royalties unless projects opted out or enforced full percentages.
OpenSea gave buyers the choice to pay royalties unless projects had opted out or imposed a specific percentage:
“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.”
Nansen’s data also reveals that the top 10 NFT collections have earned over $345 million in royalties. Yuga Labs’ $150 million in royalties accounts for 44% of the top 10. Interestingly, just 20 NFT projects have earned over $10 million in royalties to date.
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