Why are so many NFT marketplaces killing artist royalties?

What the fuck is happening with artist royalties? An integral part of the cryptoart ethos from the beginning, over the last year we’ve seen platform after platform roll back on royalty-related promises made to creators by the cryptoart space. For as long as there has been a market for art, artists had no choice but to sit back and watch their work fetch millions for collectors, galleries, and auction houses through secondary sales, with none of that money landing in their own wallets. The pioneers of cryptoart understood why this was wrong, and they sought to change it–that is the origin of artist royalties: the recognition that artists create value, and that artwork would not exist without them.

Royalties have become standard in music, literature, and other creative fields to honor the role of artists, and the cryptoart revolution brings this concept to the fine art world at last – directly and without need for the likes of galleries or record companies. And yet, perhaps buckling under bear market weight or investor pressure, or just a good old fashioned race to the bottom, we’re now seeing platform after platform that is willing to destroy the fundamental value of artist sovereignty.