NFT creators earned over $1.8 billion in royalties: report

• Yuga Labs is the top royalty earner among creators, with Nike topping the consolidated list amongst global brands in NFTs.

Ethereum-based NFT royalties have crossed the $1.8 billion market, even as the industry faces a huge debate around the royalty model, Galaxy Digital notes in its latest research insight on the sector.

But even as the sector navigates this tricky terrain amid broader crypto market malaise, data shows royalty payments, which reflect a percentage of the resale value secondary sellers pay to creators across top NFTs, have increased over the past year.

Indeed, Galaxy Digital points out in its report, the average royalty percentage creators have earned on OpenSea increased from 3% to 6%. Notably, OpenSea has overseen the most royalty payments to creators.

“OpenSea currently accounts for 80%+ of NFT marketplace volume, and their method for royalty distribution is the most common framework implemented by marketplaces today,” Galaxy Digital researchers noted.

However, not all NFT platforms facilitate royalties with the issue of royalty enforcement at marketplace level pushing some NFT marketplaces such as Solana-based DeGods to remove royalties and others like Magic Eden to declare them optional.

Yuga Labs tops royalty earning list

Galaxy Digital’s report published on Friday, 21 October, details that 27% of the royalties went to 10 creators, with these accounting for over $489 million. Only 482 NFT collections generated 80% of the total royalties paid in the past year.

The top 10 royalty-earning creators were Bored Ape Yacht Club creator Yuga Labs, Art Blocks, OpenSea Storefront Creator, Chiru Labs (Azuki), PROOF Collective, The Sandbox, Doodles, VeeFriends, NFT Worlds and World of Women.

Yuga Labs raked in $147.6 million, while Art Blocks earned $82 million and OpenSea Storefront accumulated over $76 million in royalties.

Among global brands, Nike accounted for the most NFT-based royalties in the past year with over $91 million. Adidas, with more than $4.7 million and $1.5 million, make the top three.