Nansen reports that NFT creator royalty payments have reached a two-year low.

During the past months, there has been tension between platforms and creators regarding the enforcement of non-fungible token (NFT) royalty payments. However, it seems that collectors have continued to neglect paying optional royalties.

According to a report released by data analytics platform Nansen on Wednesday, NFT royalty payments reached a two-year low in June. In April 2022, royalty payments peaked, resulting in creators earning 28,000 ETH (almost $76 million) in one week. In contrast, the peak week in June saw creators collectively earn 2,000 ETH (about $3.8 million).

The decline in creator payouts has been worsened by the emergence of the royalty-optional marketplace Blur and the policy of leading platform OpenSea. Currently, in order for creator earnings to be enforced on OpenSea, collections need to include an on-chain enforcement method in their smart contract. Otherwise, the royalty fee defaults to a minimum of 0.5%. On the other hand, Blur enforces a minimum of 0.5% royalties. In both cases, collectors can choose to contribute more to creator royalties, but it seems that this practice is not common.

Nansen analysts Javier Cerdan and Edward Wilson stated that the competition between the two marketplaces has led them to keep royalty payments low while encouraging trading.

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“Royalties have been declining since February, and Blur has taken a larger share of royalties paid to be on par with OpenSea,” said Cerdan and Wilson. “Interestingly, in the past two weeks, Blur has been dominating the share of royalties paid.”

Despite the drop in June, Nansen reported that several well-known collections have earned millions in royalty payments since their inception.

As of July 4, NFT giant Yuga Labs has earned nearly $166 million in collective royalties across its collections, including Bored Ape Yacht Club, Mutant Ape Yacht Club, and Otherdeed for Otherside. Additionally, NFT collective Chiru Labs has generated over $58 million in royalties for its flagship Azuki collection, as well as derivative projects BEANZ and Elementals, according to Nansen.

The report specified that the decline in royalty payments began before the floor price of Bored Ape Yacht Club dropped to a 20-month low and before Azuki’s Elementals mint encountered issues.

The discussion about honoring NFT royalties gained momentum in October when Blur launched its zero-fee marketplace to attract professional NFT traders, challenging OpenSea on its first day. After receiving criticism from creators and collectors, Blur started allowing collections to choose whether to enforce creator fees or not.

Other NFT marketplaces, such as X2Y2 and Magic Eden, have also recently adjusted their royalty enforcement policies after temporarily implementing zero-fee structures.