Magic Eden, Yuga Labs launching Ethereum NFT marketplace to enforce royalties
Quick Take
- Magic Eden has announced it’s partnering with Yuga Labs in order to launch a marketplace for Ethereum NFTs that is contractually obligated to enforce creator royalties.
- The marketplace is set to launch by the end of the year.
Solana-based NFT marketplace Magic Eden has announced it's partnering with Yuga Labs, the company behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club and Cryptopunk NFT collections, in order to launch a new marketplace for Ethereum NFTs that honors creator royalties.
The marketplace is set to launch "by the end of the year," Magic Eden said in its announcement. Yuga Labs called the endeavor "the first major ETH marketplace contractually obligated to honor creator royalties."
The announcement comes just one year after Magic Eden first announced its marketplace would be make paying royalties optional for NFT sellers, in a move which drew outrage from the NFT community. Co-founder Zhuoxun “Zedd” Yin, at the time, likened the decision to a case of prisoner’s dilemma.
The motivation for the partnership is clear for Yuga Labs after the company announced in August that it planned to sever ties with OpenSea by February 2024 over that platform's decision to shift to a royalty-free model. Optional royalties have caused Yuga Labs' revenue to plummet in recent months. Neither company responded immediately to a request for comment from The Block.
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