NFT Royalties: Dead, Disrupted, or Due for a Comeback?

NFT royalties once seemed like a revolutionary way for creators to earn ongoing income, but the landscape has shifted dramatically. In 2021-2022, platforms enforced royalties, ensuring creators received a percentage of secondary sales. Then came optional royalties, then zero-royalty marketplaces like Blur aggressively capturing market share. The race to the bottom seemed inevitable. Today, the question isn’t whether royalties will survive, but whether they matter at all. Projects that built business models around royalty income have pivoted or died. Meanwhile, successful collections like Pudgy Penguins transitioned to merchandising and IP licensing, proving that creator revenue doesn’t need to depend on secondary sales. The philosophical debate remains: should creators be entitled to perpetual income from secondary transactions? Critics argue it’s unprecedented in traditional art markets. Supporters claim programmable contracts enable fairer compensation. Looking forward, the future likely involves hybrid models. High-value collections with strong communities may maintain royalties, while commodity NFTs compete on zero fees. The real winners will be projects that build value beyond speculation. Royalties may not be dead, but they’re no longer the default.