The crypto market’s resurgence, Bitcoin approaching levels once thought impossible, and Ethereum, recovering its own magic in the process. You read articles claiming NFT buyer numbers are skyrocketing and you start thinking, “Wow, maybe the NFT winter is over after all!” If you look deeper, there is much more going on. An $89 million drop in sales volume isn't just a market correction; it's a glaring spotlight on a system rigged against the very people who fuel it: the creators.

Whose Kingdom Are These Royalties?

We do celebrate the democratizing power of NFTs, the ability for artists to bypass gatekeepers and connect directly with collectors. Are we really celebrating a Smart revolution, or a gilded cage? The ugly truth of the NFT world is even worse. A significant number of creators depend on royalties to survive, but they’re treated like non-binding recommendations rather than contracts. It’s such a Wild West that the sheriffs have gone to sleep and left the bank doors wide open and bandits at their leisure.

Think of it like this: imagine a musician releasing a hit song, only to find that every time it's played on the radio, they receive nothing. Absurd, right? That’s the plight most NFT artists experience. Meanwhile, marketplaces, in their own race to the bottom on fees, have recently come to ignore royalty avoidance. Their argument carefully obscures the fact that they understand that enforcing royalties cuts into their bottom line. Therefore, they choose to pursue volume over ethical creator compensation.

The recent surge in CryptoPunks sales? A blip. A distraction. Despite the picture painted in the headlines about a so-called national revival, our cities are still crumbling. A rising tide lifts all boats, amen, but what about the ships with holes in their hulls? Tell that to the independent artist about to pay their rent. In the same time, whales are juicing their CryptoPunks for millions—and frequently not paying royalties!

The Digital Art Heist Unfolding

The numbers tell a chilling tale. The increase in buyer account has been phenomenal all around, with Solana presenting a 83.66% in user growth! On the whole, transaction volume is down. This suggests a troubling trend: more people are dabbling, but fewer are truly investing. Who suffers most? The reason, the creators—the artists who are investing their heart and soul into the new digital art forms.

Ethereum, while still making up the majority of NFT sales ($25.1 million, up 22.07%), is the most notorious for wash trading. Even more shocking was the $3.4 million allocated directly to this practice, a 57.01% increase. Wash trading is when someone pretends to trade an NFT back and forth to inflate the price and perceived value. Publishers sometimes do this to avoid paying royalties on future net sales. It’s the world’s most brazenly conceived digital art heist, and the artists are getting robbed blind.

The NFT space had initially promised an era of unprecedented economic empowerment for creators. If we allow royalty evasion to be the default, we don’t have a digital kingdom to construct. Instead, we’ll build a digital feudal system in which a handful of lords rake in all the riches from the peasantry’s labor.

  • Marketplace Incentives: Platforms are incentivized to maximize volume, not enforce royalties.
  • Technical Loopholes: Smart contracts, while powerful, can be exploited to bypass royalty payments.
  • Lack of Regulation: The absence of clear legal frameworks makes it difficult to pursue royalty evaders.

Can We Redeem This Digital Kingdom?

So, what can we do? We need to demand more from marketplaces. We have to ensure that we are supporting platforms that are committed to respecting creator royalties. Beyond this, we must continue to fight for clearer legal frameworks that defend the rights of artists. And last but not least — the most important thing — we need to hold ourselves accountable as collectors. Are we really doing right by the creators we love, or are we just following the money?

Royalty payments as the property right of each creator. It’s high time to stop treating them like an afterthought! This $89 million drop in NFT sales isn’t a simple market correction, it’s a clarion call. It’s a moment to build a fairer and more sustainable NFT ecosystem. Together, let’s make sure that artists are justly compensated for what they add to our world! We must not miss this moment to take action. The future of digital art as an artistic medium and mode of creation relies upon it.

It's time we ask the hard questions. That is why it’s overdue to demand that these marketplaces be held accountable for their failure to enforce. So enough from us, and enough from you as well on this heist. Are you with me?

It's time we ask the hard questions. It is time to hold these marketplaces accountable for their lack of enforcement. It's time for us to stop being silent about this digital robbery. Are you with me?