NFT royalty percentages typically range from 5% to 10%, but vary by platform. ERC-2981 standardizes how royalties are encoded, but enforcement is voluntary. Creators rely on royalties for ongoing income, while traders sometimes bypass them-creating tension in the ecosystem.
Creator Royalties in Crypto: What They Are and Why They Matter
When you buy an NFT, you’re not just getting a digital image—you’re supporting the person who made it. Creator royalties, a percentage of future sales paid automatically to the original artist or builder when their NFT changes hands. Also known as secondary sale royalties, they’re how many Web3 creators stay paid long after the first sale. Without them, artists would have no incentive to keep building. Imagine painting a mural, then watching strangers sell copies of it forever while you get nothing. That’s the world without royalties.
These payments happen through smart contracts on blockchains like Ethereum, Solana, and Polygon. When someone resells your NFT on a marketplace, the contract kicks in and sends a cut—usually 2% to 10%—straight to your wallet. It’s automatic. No invoices. No chasing buyers. But here’s the catch: NFT marketplaces, platforms where NFTs are bought and sold, like OpenSea or Blur. Also known as NFT trading platforms, they control whether royalties are enforced. Some, like OpenSea, used to honor them by default. Now, many let buyers ignore them. Why? Because traders want to flip NFTs cheaply, and marketplaces are competing for volume. This isn’t just a technical glitch—it’s a battle over who owns value in crypto.
Some projects, like PLAYA3ULL, a Web3 gaming token tied to NFTs and community rewards. Also known as 3ULL, it’s part of a broader ecosystem where creators earn through both primary and secondary sales, built their entire model around royalties. Others, like the GEMS NFT airdrop, a free distribution of digital assets tied to esports and community engagement. Also known as GEMS Esports 3.0, it relied on royalties to fund ongoing development. But when marketplaces stop paying, those funds dry up. Creators lose income. Communities shrink. Projects die. That’s why the future of creator royalties isn’t just about tech—it’s about trust, power, and who gets to decide what’s fair.
You’ll find posts here that dig into real cases: how some NFT drops paid creators for years, how others vanished when marketplaces changed the rules, and why some royalties are now just a rumor. Some articles expose scams hiding behind fake royalty promises. Others show how to spot platforms that still respect creators. Whether you’re an artist, a collector, or just trying to understand how value moves in crypto, this collection gives you the facts—not the hype. What you’ll see isn’t theory. It’s what actually happened, who got paid, and who got left behind.