NFT Royalty Percentage Standards: What Creators and Buyers Need to Know in 2025

When you buy an NFT, you’re not just buying a digital image or audio file-you’re buying into a system that’s supposed to keep paying the artist every time it changes hands. That’s the promise of NFT royalty percentage standards. But here’s the problem: not all marketplaces honor it. And if you’re a creator relying on those payments to make a living, or a collector trying to understand what you’re really paying for, this gap matters more than you think.

How NFT Royalties Actually Work

NFT royalties are built into the smart contract that creates the token. When you mint an NFT, you can set a percentage-say, 10%-that gets automatically sent to your wallet every time someone resells it. It’s like a perpetual commission. No middleman. No paperwork. Just code.

This isn’t new in concept. In the physical art world, artists rarely see a dime after their first sale. But in the NFT world, the blockchain makes it possible to change that. The Ethereum Improvement Proposal 2981 (ERC-2981), finalized in 2021, created a universal standard for how royalties should be encoded. It doesn’t force anyone to pay them-it just gives everyone the same language to talk about them.

For example, if an NFT sells for $5,000 with a 7.5% royalty, $375 goes straight to the original creator. The rest goes to the seller, minus any marketplace fee. Simple. Transparent. Predictable.

What’s the Standard Royalty Rate? (And Why It Varies)

There’s no single rule. But most creators set their royalties between 5% and 10%. That’s the sweet spot where buyers don’t feel nickel-and-dimed, and creators still get meaningful income.

Here’s how major platforms stack up in 2025:

• OpenSea: 10% default (but can be customized)
• Rarible: 15% default (one of the highest)
• Foundation: 10% standard
• Objkt (Tezos): 17.5%-the highest in the space
• Blur: 5%-designed for traders who want to move fast

Why such a big difference? It’s strategy. Platforms like Rarible and Objkt are betting that artists will flock to them because they protect income. Blur, on the other hand, is built for high-volume traders who care more about speed and low fees than supporting creators. If you’re a flipper, Blur is your playground. If you’re an artist, you might avoid it.

Some creators go even higher-up to 17.5%-but that’s rare. Why? Because setting a rate too high can kill resale interest. An NFT with a 20% royalty might look great on paper, but if buyers know they’re paying $200 extra just to resell it, they’ll look elsewhere.

The Big Problem: Royalties Are Optional

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: ERC-2981 doesn’t force anyone to pay royalties. It only says, “Here’s how you *should* do it.” Marketplaces decide whether to follow along.

That means an NFT minted on Rarible with a 15% royalty can be sold on Blur-and if Blur doesn’t enforce royalties, the artist gets $0. No warning. No notice. Just gone.

This isn’t hypothetical. In 2024, over 40% of secondary sales on non-compliant platforms bypassed creator royalties entirely. Some traders even use “royalty-free” wallets or cross-chain bridges to avoid payments. It’s a loophole, and it’s being used.

Creators are fighting back. Some now mint their NFTs on multiple platforms and lock royalties into the smart contract using wrapper contracts. Others refuse to list on platforms that don’t honor royalties. But the system is still broken. Until every marketplace agrees to enforce the same rules, the creator’s cut is always at risk.

Real Money: How Royalties Actually Pay Out

Let’s look at real numbers.

Digital artist Beeple earned $660,000 from a single resale of his NFT "Crossroads"-a 10% cut of a $6.6 million sale. That’s life-changing money. But it’s not just for famous artists. Smaller creators see the same pattern.

Take a mid-tier artist who sells a collection of 1,000 NFTs for $1,000 each with a 7% royalty. That’s $70 per sale. If just 30% of those NFTs resell once, that’s 300 resales × $70 = $21,000 in passive income. If they resell twice? $42,000.

Yuga Labs, creators of Bored Ape Yacht Club, earn 2.5% on every resale. With floor prices often above $100,000, that’s $2,500 per sale. Multiply that by hundreds of sales a week, and you’re looking at millions per year-just from royalties.

These aren’t outliers. They’re proof that royalties can turn digital art into a sustainable career.

What Happens When Royalties Don’t Work?

When royalties are ignored, the whole ecosystem suffers.

Artists stop making NFTs. Collectors lose trust. Platforms that ignore royalties gain short-term traffic but lose long-term credibility. Meanwhile, platforms that honor royalties build communities. They become the go-to places for artists who want to earn from their work, not just cash out once.

Some projects now include royalty enforcement as a core part of their brand. The CryptoPunks collection, for example, doesn’t have royalties-but that’s by design. It’s a historical artifact. Most new collections? They’re built with royalties baked in.

There’s also a growing movement to create “royalty-proof” NFTs. These are tokens wrapped in contracts that force royalty payments regardless of where they’re sold. They’re more expensive to create and require more technical know-how, but they’re becoming popular among serious creators.

What Should Creators Do?

If you’re making NFTs, here’s what works in 2025:

1. Set your royalty at 7%-10%. That’s the range most buyers accept.
2. Mint on platforms that enforce royalties-like OpenSea, Foundation, or Objkt.
3. Avoid listing on Blur or other platforms that ignore royalties unless you’re targeting pure traders.
4. Use ERC-2981-compliant contracts. Don’t rely on custom code that might not be recognized.
5. Consider splitting royalties if you worked with a team. Smart contracts can send 5% to you, 3% to your animator, 2% to your sound designer-all automatically.

Don’t assume your royalty will be paid. Build your business around the idea that it might not be. That’s the reality.

What Should Buyers Know?

Buying an NFT isn’t just about owning a picture. It’s about supporting the ecosystem.

If you buy an NFT and resell it without paying the royalty, you’re taking money away from someone who made it possible. That’s not illegal-but it’s not ethical, either.

Here’s what to look for:

• Check the original minting platform. If it’s Rarible or Objkt, expect a higher royalty.
• Use wallets that show royalty details before you buy or sell.
• Don’t use “royalty-free” tools unless you’re okay with hurting creators.
• Remember: a lower royalty doesn’t mean a better deal. It might mean a less sustainable art scene.

Some collectors now openly say they only buy from artists who use royalties. It’s becoming a badge of honor.

The Future: Will Royalties Survive?

The battle isn’t over. Some regulators are starting to look at NFT royalties as a form of intellectual property. In the U.S., the IRS already treats royalty income as taxable. In the EU, there’s talk of making royalty enforcement mandatory.

Technically, the next step is on-chain enforcement-where the blockchain itself, not the marketplace, handles the payment. Projects like Hedera are already testing this. If it catches on, royalty bypassing could become nearly impossible.

For now, the system is a mix of code, culture, and compromise. The most successful creators aren’t the ones with the biggest collections. They’re the ones who understand the rules-and play by them.

Whether you’re making NFTs or buying them, remember this: royalties aren’t just a feature. They’re the reason digital art can be more than a speculative bubble.