NFT marketplace

SuperRare cuts 30% of staff as growth slows during crypto winter

Despite only being a week into the new year, SuperRare adds to a number of firms announcing staff cuts such as Huobi and Genesis.

Non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace SuperRare has announced a 30% staff-member cut as CEO John Crain explained that the firm mistakenly over-hired during the last bull market.

In a Jan. 7 tweet, Crain shared a screenshot of his message to SuperRare’s Slack channel announcing the 30% cut, stating that he had “some tough news to share.”

“Startups are a balancing act of managing rapid growth while doing everything possible to conserve limited resources. During the recent bull run, we grew in tandem with the market” he noted, adding that:

“In recent months it’s become clear that this aggressive growth was unsustainable: we over-hired, and I take full ownership of this mistake.”

Crain didn’t outline specifically what sort of redundancy packages the terminated employees will receive, but noted that the firm will “do everything we can to help them transition to new opportunities and support them in future endeavours.”

SuperRare is one of the biggest names in the space, but notably sees significantly less trading volume than competing NFT marketplaces such as OpenSea and Magic Eden.

According to data from DappRadar, SuperRare oversaw $663,000 worth of trading volume over the past 30 days, compared to OpenSea’s 30-day trading volume of $307 million and Magic Eden’s $80.1 million.

This is due in part to SuperRare’s model which is more focused on art, the artist community and single-edition NFT artworks as opposed to the computer-generated avatar model bearing thousands of tokens in a single collection, which is popular on OpenSea and Magic Eden.

Related: Industry seeks solutions for NFT image-hosting disasters

Moving forward, Crain outlined that despite a slowing of growth during the crypto bear market, SuperRare is still focused on pushing on with its initial vision of opening up greater access and exposure to digital artists.

“We are facing headwinds, yes — but there remains an incredible uncaptured opportunity as we continue building something totally new: a global digital art renaissance that is transparent, fair and that anyone can access from anywhere in the world,” he concluded.

The hefty staff cut from SuperRare adds to a wave of blockchain and crypto firms that have shed staff during crypto winter, with Cointelegraph reporting on at least six companies doing so since early December 2022 alone.

In terms of the most recent companies to decrease head counts, it was reported on Jan. 5 that crypto lender Genesis laid off 30% of its staff, while the reportedly troubled crypto exchange Huobi also announced a 20% cut on Jan. 6.

A report from The Wall Street Journal this week also indicated that U.S. bank Silvergate cut 40% of its staff as a result of an $8.1 billion bank run that was triggered in response to the FTX collapse in November.

Nifty News: NFT marketplace says no to opt-in royalties, Visa jumps on World Cup NFTs and more

A new NFT marketplace is giving a hard pass to optional royalties, bucking the trend and NFTs are getting a new home on Ripple’s XRPL.

NFT marketplace says no to optional royalties

While nonfungible token (NFT) marketplaces such as Ethereum-based X2Y2, LooksRare and Solana-based Magic Eden have made the switch over to “optional” creator royalties, a newly launched marketplace is taking a hard stand against it.

Find Satoshi Lab, the company behind the popular move-to-earn app STEPN, has launched its new NFT marketplace named MOOAR on Nov. 1, notably featuring “no optional royalties.”

Instead, its NFT royalty policy will be set to a default of 2% but allows creators to set royalties between 0.5% to 10%. There is no option for 0% royalties, nor can it be set by the user.

“With the raging debate going on surrounding the paying of royalties, we are aware that many users have been vocal in opposing the enforcement of such royalties,” said the MOOAR team in a Medium post.

“Fully empathizing with the sentiment, we strongly believe this ‘cancel culture’ has forced marketplaces into a corner to the point that prominent marketplaces have adopted optional royalties,” it added.

On Aug. 27, Ethereum-based NFT marketplace X2Y2 announced it would be introducing an option that allows buyers to set the royalty fee when buying an NFT.

With the new update, buyers on the platform will be given the liberty of setting the amount of royalties they want to contribute to an NFT project. This means that some creators may not receive royalties when their artworks are sold.

The controversial move was followed by the Solana-based NFT marketplace Magic Eden on Oct. 15, which announced it would also be moving to an optional royalty model after “difficult reflection and discussion with many creators.”

Less than two weeks later, on Oct. 27, NFT marketplace LooksRare became the latest to succumb to pressure from buyers, announcing it was doing away with enforcing creator royalties, allowing buyers to choose to pay royalties on an opt-in basis.

Visa gets in on World Cup NFT action

Credit card giant Visa has become the latest major company set to cash in on FIFA World Cup-related NFTs — unveiling a charity auction for five NFTs ahead of the upcoming tournament in Qatar. 

The auction is in partnership with crypto exchange Crypto.com, with all auction proceeds going to Street Child United, a charitable organization promoting the rights of impoverished children.

Each NFT features digital art inspired by icon goals from five famed soccer players, including Jared Borgetti, Tim Cahill, Carli Lloyd, Michael Owen and Maxi Rodriguez, and is part of the “Visa Masters of Movement.”

NFT titled “Jared Borgetti 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea Japan™”

The credit card company has been a long supporter of NFTs and its ability to provide a “promising medium for fan engagement.”

In a report released on Aug. 23, 2021, Visa said that “NFTs appeal to collectors, fans, teams, leagues, and talent.”

In particular, NFTs can become primary sources of fan engagement, customer relationship management, and newer revenue streams, it said.

Visa’s announcement also comes on the same day that Crypto.com announced it will now be able to self-issue its own Crypto.com Visa card in Singapore after becoming a Visa Associate Program Member in the city-state.

The Crypto.com Visa card will allow the exchange’s users in Singapore to use it for everyday purchases and earn rewards in Crypto.com Coin (CRO) coins.

Visa is the official payment technology partner of FIFA. Other notable sponsors include Crypto.com which became an official sponsor in March, and blockchain network Algorand, which inked a partnership in May as FIFA’s official blockchain platform.

Ripple’s new stomping ground for NFTs

As of Oct. 31, Ripple’s XRPL blockchain has officially become a new home for NFTs.

RippleX developers have been working on the project since the XLS-20 proposal was filed on May 25, 2021, which proposed the goal of bringing NFTs to the XRP Ledger.

At the time, the team described the proposal as one that would introduce extensions to the XRP Ledger that would support a “native non-fungible token type, along with operations to enumerate, purchase, sell and hold such tokens.”

Ripple chief technology officer David Schwartz told his 395,600 Twitter followers on Oct. 31 that the XLS-20 standard has now been enabled on the XRP Ledger Mainnet after a vote approved the roll-out of the technology.

Schwartz noted that “this presents a key milestone for developers and creators to tokenize any asset and build innovative Web3 projects with utility.”

In an accompanying Nov. 1 blog post, Schwartz said the benefits of launching NFTs on the XRP Ledger include much lower costs for minting, trading and otherwise transferring NFTs compared with “leading layer-1 blockchain solutions.”

He also said their “no-smart contracts” approach will make NFTs on the XRPL less vulnerable to hacks, while NFTs will include “automatic royalties” which essentially allow creators to be given a share of revenue whenever an NFT is bought or sold.

Scammers impersonate indie game, adding NFT twist

The indie developer behind farming sim game Coral Island has taken to Twitter to warn its followers of a scammer impersonating them on the internet and purporting to be involved in “GameFi” and NFTs.

The developer Stairway Games pointed to the doppelganger account on Twitter on Oct. 31, clarifying that Coral Island “is not an NFT game” and the page has no affiliation with Coral Island.

Related: Steph Curry files trademark for the Curryverse, where players earn NFTs

The fake Coral Island Twitter page in question describes itself as “Re-imagined farm sim game goes GameFi. Enter the farmverse!” and links to a similar Instagram page, as well as a fully-decked-out website using assets lifted directly from the developers.

The website includes sections such as “Roadmap” and “Tokenomics,” with claims that it would launch staking, airdrops, character NFTs, and a “token earning system” in the future.

Coral Island is a farming simulator game currently in early access, it’s said to be a mix of “Harvest Moon, Story of Seasons, Stardew Valley and a tiny bit of Animal Crossing,” according to one user review on the gaming platform Steam.

More Nifty News

The NFT marketplace for American video game retailer GameStop has officially gone live on Ethereum layer-2 blockchain ImmutableX, all part of the latest Web3 push from the gaming retailer.

There’s been pushback from Silicon Valley CEOs about the current iterations of the Metaverse. Microsoft gaming chief Phil Spencer called it a “poorly built video game,” while Snap CEO Evan Spiegel hinted that the current iterations of the concept are very basic, and he won’t feel like spending time inside it after a long day of work.

Nifty News: LooksRare the latest NFT market to sack royalties, Twitter’s tweeting tiles and more

LooksRare joins the lineup of NFT marketplaces that have abandoned default creator royalties but says its replacement solution is “competitive.”

Nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace LooksRare is the latest in a string of NFT markets to do away with enforcing creator royalties by default, following the likes of Magic Eden and X2Y2.

The platform tweeted on Oct. 27 that it would not be supporting creator royalties by default, instead choosing to share 25% of its protocol fees with NFT creators and collection owners. Buyers can still choose to pay royalties when purchasing an NFT but it will be on an opt-in basis.

Explaining the changes, it said 0.5% of its 2% protocol fee would go to collections, as long as that collection has a receiving address for the funds.

LooksRare said the willingness of buyers to pay royalties has “eroded” as a result of many NFT markets now moving to a zero-royalty model adding that these disadvantage creators by removing a source of passive income

For this reason, it says it wants to create a “competitive solution” through its fee-sharing model with creators.

The reaction from the community was mixed, with some praising LooksRare for the revenue sharing model, but well-known Twitter NFT statistician, the aptly named NFTstatistics.eth, said he doesn’t see the benefit.

“The average royalty paid is around 6%” they tweeted, “I wouldn’t say that giving artists 0.5% […] is a competitive solution that benefits creators.”

“I do get that everyone is trying to survive in this race to the bottom,” he added.

Twitter’s testing token tweeting tiles

Twitter’s development team announced on Oct. 27 that it’s testing “NFT Tweet Tiles” with some links to NFTs showing on the platform with a larger picture along with details of the NFT and the name of its creator.

Supported NFT marketplaces, for now, include Rarible, Magic Eden, Dapper Labs and Jump.trade. It comes after the platform rolled out NFT profile pictures in January, but only for its paid subscribers on Apple iOS.

The new feature could be a move to appease its most active users, as leaked internal Twitter documents show it found the topics of interest among English-speaking heavy users of the platform have shifted over the last two years, with one of the highest-growing topics now being cryptocurrencies.

There are also circulating rumors that Twitter is developing a crypto wallet, but so far, the claim hasn’t been backed by evidence nor confirmed by Twitter. Regardless, speculation abounds that it could be in the works with the takeover by crypto-friendly Elon Musk.

EPL lines up $35M NFT deal with Sorare

The top English men’s professional soccer league — the English Premier League (EPL) — is working on signing a nearly $35 million, or 30 million British pounds, NFT deal with Ethereum blockchain-based fantasy soccer game Sorare, according to Sky News.

Sorare is a fantasy soccer league trading card game where players buy, sell and trade NFTs player cards to manage a team. The team can then enter contests and earn in-game points based on the actual on-pitch performances of the corresponding players.

The EPL will hold discussions with its 20 clubs regarding the reported multi-year contract on Oct. 28. The deal will allegedly focus on static images of EPL players assigned to NFTs, which of course, will allow fans to buy, own and likely trade them.

In March, it was reported that the EPL tapped blockchain firm ConsenSys for an NFT deal allegedly valued upward of $300 million. Still, Sky News reports that a slide in NFT prices had ConsenSys renegotiating to lower the price of the agreement, which made Sorare’s offer more attractive to the league.

A separate deal between the EPL and blockchain developer Dapper Labs is reportedly also under discussion.

New NFT market gains on leader OpenSea in 24-hour trading volume

The new NFT marketplace and aggregator Blur hit a record high of 1,610 Ether (ETH), around $2.5 million, in 24-hour trading volume on Oct. 26, according to Dune analytics, placing it only behind the largest marketplace, OpenSea.

It topped its rivals LooksRare and X2Y2 in terms of market share on the day, taking to Twitter to celebrate the milestone.

The Ethereum-based platform launched a beta version on Oct. 19 with an airdrop of its native token BLUR to anyone who had traded NFTs in the last six months. It says it targets “pro traders” and offers no trading fees and optional royalties.

Related: TV streaming providers should start relying on NFTs

On the same day, NFT marketplace X2Y2 tweeted that it would like Blur “to stop using our listings on your website” and subsequently blocked Blur from its platform, claiming it violated X2Y2’s terms by using multiple application programming interface (API) keys.

More Nifty News

NFT marketplace myNFT will showcase its first-ever physical NFT vending machine at the NFT.London event slated for Nov. 2–4. It will allow eventgoers to buy an NFT by purchasing a displayed envelope, scanning a code to create a myNFT account and receiving the NFT in their newly created wallet.

Monkey Drainer, the pseudonym of an alleged phishing scammer, has reportedly stolen $1 million worth of ETH so far this week through creating copycat NFT minting websites, and its possible the scams may have stolen over $3.5 million in total so far.

Crypto Twitter split as another NFT platform moves to opt-in royalties

Despite the change to an optional royalties model, Magic Eden will still have full royalties set by default for all collections and listings.

Solana-based Magic Eden has become the latest nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace to shift to an optional royalties model, following in the footsteps of X2Y2 in August, albeit reluctantly. 

Under the optional royalties model, buyers are given the power to set the royalties they want to contribute to an NFT project, meaning there is a chance that some creators may not receive royalties when their artworks are sold.

In an Oct. 14 post, the NFT marketplace noted that the decision came after “difficult reflection and discussions with many creators” and came as the “market has been shifting towards optional creator royalties for awhile.”

The NFT marketplace shared a graph showing that the number of cumulative wallets using optional royalty marketplaces to buy or sell NFTs skyrocketed in late September.

However, the move has been met with split opinions from Twitter’s NFT community, with some seeing the move as positive for the long-term health of the industry, while others have labeled skipping royalties as akin to “theft.”

Well-known NFT artist Mike “Beeple” Winkleman pointed out to his 700,000 followers on Oct. 15 that while he doesn’t love what Magic Eden and others are doing, the switch from a seller’s fee to a buyer’s premium could be better for the industry long term.

Another Twitter user named CaptainFuego, behind Fuego Labs, told their nearly 10,000 followers that “Royalties are stupid and shouldn’t exist. Glad to see platforms taking this approach.”

Others were more critical of the change. Brocolli DAO argued that “royalties are needed in an immature ecosystem,” noting that as per their calculations, they’ve already lost as much as $27,000 in royalties due to 0% purchases on other marketplaces. 

“In future we will be blocking anyone who hasn’t paid royalties from accessing our Discord channels. Not paying royalties is theft. We will treat it as such,” they said. 

Cozy the Caller, a self-proclaimed analyst, made a grim prediction to their 108,000 followers, stating “I can see a scenario in which Magic Eden goes 0% and loses their market share to a marketplace enforcing royalties in an innovative way.”

Magic Eden said the change was not taken lightly, and “have actively been trying to avoid this outcome and spent the last few weeks exploring different alternatives.”

Last month, the NFT marketplace attempted to bring forth a royalty enforcement tool called Meta Shield, aimed at deterring NFT buyers trying to skirt creator royalties by giving creators a tool that could flag and blur NFTs that sold bypassing royalties.

Magic Eden noted in its latest post that: “Unfortunately, royalties are not enforceable on a protocol level, so we have had to adapt to shifting market dynamics.”

In August, NFT marketplace X2Y2 announced they were introducing a similar option that allows buyers to set the royalty fee when buying an NFT.

The move doesn’t appear to have affected the platform’s usage, according to data on NFTGo, in the last three months, X2Y2’s trading volume is ranked first, surpassing OpenSea.

NFT marketplace trading volume data. Source: NFTGO

Cointelegraph has reached out to Magic Eden for further comment but has not received an immediate response at the time of publication. 

OpenSea CFO steps down after 11 months in the job

The now-former CFO did not give a specific reason for his resignation but noted he will remain in an advisory capacity with OpenSea.

The chief financial officer of NFT marketplace OpenSea, Brian Roberts, has become the latest high-profile Web3 executive to step down amid the bear market, resigning from his position after only 11 months in the role. 

In an Oct. 7 post on LinkedIn, the former CFO of ride-share platform Lyft and OpenSea said it was time for him to “come ashore” from the “open seas,” but didn’t state his exact reasons for leaving, though he noted he would be staying on as an advisor to the company moving forward. 

Roberts was appointed as the OpenSea CFO in 2021 after working at Lyft for seven years. He also has had previous stints in corporate roles at U.S. retail giant Walmart and technology company Mircosoft.

Roberts was among a long line of tech veterans who jumped to Web3 over the last few years, including Google’s former vice president Surojit Chatterjee who became Coinbase’s chief product officer in 2020, and Amazon’s Pravjit Tiwana, who became chief technology officer of Gemini in Jan 2022.

One of his core responsibilities during his time at OpenSea was to grow the finance team. In his Linkedin post, Roberts noted:

“I had the rare opportunity to build a team literally from the ground up and handpicked game changers.”

According to his statement, he has been working closely with CEO Devin Finzer and VP of Strategic Finance Justin Jow to ensure a “smooth transition,” possibly indicating that Jow will step up and take over the newly vacant CFO role.

Despite his exit from the CFO role, Roberts maintains he is still “incredibly bullish on web3.”

Notably, Roberts’ departure came on the same day another OpenSea executive announced his resignation.

In an Oct.7 LinkedIn post, Ryan Foutty, Vice President of Business Development of OpenSea also announced his departure after 18 months at the NFT firm.

Foutty said the company had come a long way since working out of co-founder Alex Atallah’s basement and wished his “crewmates” well.

Related: OpenSea to allow users to submit bulk NFT listings and purchases

Both Roberts and Foutty are just the latest crypto executives to step down or take on advisory roles amid the market downturn.

NFT trading volume has plunged 98% from the $6.2 billion witnessed around the end of Jan to $114.4 million. 

The NFT marketplace has suffered setbacks as well, including cutting down 20% of its staff in July, and significant plunges in daily trading volume.

The whole market took a sharp fall off a cliff in May with the start of an ongoing crypto bear market.

Other high-profile executives announcing departure from their firms include FTX US president Brett Harrison, Kraken CEO Jesse Powell, and MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor, and Genesis Trading CEO Michael Moro. 

OpenSea CFO departs after 10 months in the job

The now-former CFO did not give a specific reason for his departure but noted he that will remain in an advisory capacity with OpenSea.

The chief financial officer of nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea, Brian Roberts, has become the latest high-profile Web3 executive to depart their role amid the current bear market, leaving after just 10 months in the role. 

In an Oct. 7 post on LinkedIn, the former chief financial officer of ride-share platform Lyft and OpenSea said it was time for him to “come ashore” from the “open seas,” but didn’t state the exact reasons for the change, only that he would be staying on as an adviser to the company moving forward. 

Roberts was appointed as chief financial officer in December 2021 after working at Lyft for seven years. He also has had previous stints in corporate roles at United States retail giant Walmart and technology company Mircosoft.

Roberts was among a long line of tech veterans who jumped to Web3 over the last few years, including Google’s former vice president Surojit Chatterjee, who became Coinbase’s chief product officer in 2020, and Amazon’s Pravjit Tiwana, who became chief technology officer of Gemini in Janua 2022.

One of his core responsibilities during his time at OpenSea was to grow the finance team. In his Linkedin post, Roberts noted:

“I had the rare opportunity to build a team literally from the ground up and handpicked game changers.”

According to his statement, he has been working closely with CEO Devin Finzer and vice president of strategic finance Justin Jow to ensure a “smooth transition,” possibly indicating that Jow will step up and take over the newly vacant executive role.

Despite the departure from the chief financial officer role, Roberts maintains he is still “incredibly bullish on web3.”

Notably, Roberts’ departure came on the same day another OpenSea executive announced his resignation.

In an Oct. 7 LinkedIn post, Ryan Foutty, vice president of business development at OpenSea, announced his departure from the firm after 18 months.

Foutty said the company had come a long way since working out of co-founder Alex Atallah’s basement and wished his “crewmates” well.

Related: OpenSea to allow users to submit bulk NFT listings and purchases

Both Roberts and Foutty are just the latest crypto executives to depart from their current roles amid the market downturn.

NFT trading volume has plunged 98% from the $6.2 billion witnessed around the end of January to $114.4 million. 

The NFT marketplace has suffered setbacks as well, including cutting down 20% of its staff in July, and significant plunges in daily trading volume.

The whole market took a sharp fall off a cliff in May with the start of an ongoing crypto bear market.

Other high-profile executives announcing departure from their firms include FTX US president Brett Harrison, Kraken CEO Jesse Powell, MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor and Genesis Trading CEO Michael Moro. 

Update: Correction on the number of months Brian Roberts held the chief financial officer position at OpenSea. 

Christie’s moves on-chain with NFT auction platform on Ethereum

The new marketplace allows the prestigious auction house to carry out auctions and sales on the Ethereum blockchain “from start to finish.”

After a series of successful high-priced nonfungible token (NFT) sales, Christie’s has launched its own dedicated NFT “on-chain auction platform,” allowing auctions to be carried out fully on-chain on the Ethereum network.

The 256-year-old British auction giant, which is also the second-largest auction house in the world by fine-art auction revenue, said its Christie’s 3.0 allows for NFT auctions to be conducted entirely on the ETH network “from start to finish:”

“All transactions, including post-sale, will be automatically recorded on the blockchain.”

In its past NFT auctions, the payments from the winning bidder were not always conducted on a blockchain, but the creation of Christie’s marketplace allows transactions to occur in a fashion much like the popular marketplace OpenSea, allowing for payments to be made in Ether (ETH). 

Christie’s said the new marketplace was developed in partnership with NFT smart contract development startup Manifold, metaverse development firm Spatial and blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis.

The announcement was paired with an inaugural launch of only one project exclusive to the new marketplace by artist Diana Sinclair, featuring just nine NFTs which can be viewed in an online virtual gallery built by Spatial.

Christie’s has seen major success with NFT auctions in the past, such as Beeple’s Everydays: The First 5000 Days, which was minted exclusively for the auction house selling for a record $69.3 million in March 2021, becoming one of the most expensive NFTs ever sold.

At the time, the sale of the NFT was conducted in partnership with NFT marketplace MakersPlace.

The firm also facilitated the auction of nine CryptoPunks in May 2021, with the winning bid coming in at almost $17 million.

Related: Beyond the NFT hype: The need for reimagining digital art’s value proposition

Christie’s Web3 interest has moved outside of NFT auctions, in July it launched a venture fund aimed at supporting “art-related financial products and solutions” in Web3 with its initial investment going to LayerZero Labs, a company building decentralized applications compatible with multiple blockchains.

Rival auction house Sotheby’s has taken a similar interest in Web3 and NFTs, launching its own metaverse in October 2021 and having its share of high-priced NFT sales also.

‘Grotesquely overpriced’ — Apple’s App Store wants 30% cut on NFT sales

While the commission is standard for Apple, some have expressed their displeasure at the company’s “grotesquely overpriced” cut of sales.

Non-fungible token (NFT) app developers and others have balked at a decision by tech giant Apple to impose a 30% commission on NFTs sold through apps on its marketplace, effectively putting NFT purchases in the same boat as regular in-app purchases.

According to a Friday report from The Information, the smartphone company is now allowing NFTs to be bought and sold through apps listed on its marketplace but imposes its standard commission on in-app purchases of 30% — similar to that imposed by Android’s app store Google Play.

The commission rate has however been slammed by some for being “grotesquely overpriced” — particularly when compared to standard NFT marketplace commissions, which are around 2.5%.

Tech blogger Florian Mueller called Apple’s “app tax” on NFT sales “abusive but consistent,” while Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney tweeted that Apple is “crushing” another nascent technology that “could rival its grotesquely overpriced in-app payment service.”

The report noted that popular Solana (SOL) NFT market Magic Eden withdrew its service from the App Store after learning of the policy, even after Apple offered to lower its commission to 15%, though the app continues to be listed on the app store at the time of writing.

Meanwhile, other NFT marketplaces on Apple’s App Store have reportedly limited functionality of their apps due to the hefty commissions, as well as being forced to conduct the transactions in U.S. dollars rather than cryptocurrency, which could prove challenging given the volatility of cryptocurrency markets.

Related: Throw your Bored Apes in the trash

Others have seen the positive side of Apple’s NFT acceptance. Gabriel Leydon CEO of Web3 game developer Limit Break said the move “could put an ETH wallet in every single mobile game onboarding 1B+ players!” adding he would “HAPPILY give Apple a 30% cut of a free NFT.”

It’s not the first time companies have battled with Apple regarding its commissions, Epic Games has filed legal proceedings after its flagship game Fortnite was delisted from the App Store in Aug. 2020 after the publisher attempted to sell in-game purchases which skirted Apple’s fees.

NFT marketplace apps on the app store currently include OpenSea, Rarible, Magic Eden and marketplaces in crypto trading apps include Binance, Crypto.com and Coinbase Wallet.

‘Grotesquely overpriced’ — Apple’s App Store wants 30% cut on NFT sales

While the commission is standard for Apple, some have expressed their displeasure at the company’s “grotesquely overpriced” cut of sales.

Nonfungible token (NFT) application developers and others have balked at a decision by tech giant Apple to impose a 30% commission on NFTs sold through apps on its marketplace, effectively putting NFT purchases in the same boat as regular in-app purchases.

According to a Friday report from The Information, the smartphone company is now allowing NFTs to be bought and sold through apps listed on its marketplace but imposes its standard commission on in-app purchases of 30% — similar to that imposed by Android’s app store Google Play.

The commission rate has however been slammed by some for being “grotesquely overpriced” — particularly when compared to standard NFT marketplace commissions, which are around 2.5%.

Tech blogger Florian Mueller called Apple’s “app tax” on NFT sales “abusive but consistent,” while Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney tweeted that Apple is “crushing” another nascent technology that “could rival its grotesquely overpriced in-app payment service.”

The report noted that popular Solana NFT market Magic Eden withdrew its service from the App Store after learning of the policy, even after Apple offered to lower its commission to 15%, though the app continues to be listed on the app store at the time of writing.

Meanwhile, other NFT marketplaces on the App Store have reportedly limited functionality due to the hefty commissions. There is also the added challenge of being forced to conduct transactions in United States dollars rather than cryptocurrency, which could prove risky given the volatility of cryptocurrency markets.

Related: Throw your Bored Apes in the trash

Others have seen the positive side of Apple’s NFT acceptance. Gabriel Leydon, CEO of Web3 game developer Limit Break, said the move “could put an ETH wallet in every single mobile game onboarding 1B+ players!” adding he would “HAPPILY give Apple a 30% cut of a free NFT.”

It’s not the first time companies have battled with Apple regarding its commissions, Epic Games has filed legal proceedings after its flagship game Fortnite was delisted from the App Store in Aug. 2020 after the publisher attempted to sell in-game purchases which skirted Apple’s fees.

NFT marketplace apps on the app store currently include OpenSea, Rarible, Magic Eden and marketplaces in crypto trading apps include Binance, Crypto.com and Coinbase Wallet.

GameStop doubles down on crypto amid a new partnership with FTX US

After launching an NFT marketplace and wallet with the help of Immutable X, GameStop is continuing its push into crypto following a partnership with FTX.

Gaming retailer GameStop is partnering with United States crypto exchange FTX US to bring more customers to crypto and work together on online marketing initiatives. 

In a Wednesday statement, the gaming retailer noted that the new partnership will introduce GameStop’s customers into the FTX ecosystem, including its marketplaces for digital assets, while also seeing the retailer become FTX’s “preferred retail partner in the United States.”

The partnership will also see certain GameStop retail stores carrying FTX gift cards. As of Aug. 31, there are 2,970 GameStop stores across the United States.

In its Q2 earnings call, GameStop CEO Matt Furlong said the new deal is aimed at establishing something “unique” in the retail space:

“The deal we just announced with FTX is a by-product of our commerce and blockchain team, working hand-in-hand together to establish something unique in the retail world.”

GameStop did not disclose the financial terms of the partnership in its statement.

News of the new partnership came on the same day that GameStop released its financial results for the quarter that ended July 30, 2022.

Despite GameStop reporting a nearly 4% decline in net sales to $1.14 billion in the quarter, shares in GameStop managed to rise nearly 12% in after-hours trading following the news, reaching $26.84 per share.

GameStop has significantly ramped up its Web3 efforts this year after unveiling a nonfungible token (NFT) and Web3 gaming division in January, as well as the launch of its NFT marketplace on July 11 in partnership with Ethereum scaling solution Immutable X.

Furlong noted during the earnings call that the launch of its marketplace “supports GameStop’s pursuit of long-term growth in the cryptocurrency, NFT and Web3 gaming verticals,” which they expect to be increasingly important for gamers and collectors.

The marketplace is a “non-custodial, Ethereum Layer 2-based marketplace,” which allows users to connect their own digital asset wallets, like the recently launched GameStop Wallet.

Related: GameStop NFT daily fee revenue plunges under $4K as gloom infects markets

GameStop noted that sales attributable to its digital collectibles were $223.2 million in the quarter, representing a nearly 26% increase compared to the $177.2 million worth of sales in the prior year period.

According to DappRadar, the marketplace has seen a volume of $21.26 million traded on it since its launch. Activity on the marketplace has slowed dramatically since its launch, with only $922,350 worth of activity occurring on the marketplace within the last seven days.