Ethereum NFT Royalties: Are Artists Getting Their Due?
NFT royalties on Ethereum hit an eye-popping 699,816 ETH, roughly translating to $1.8 billion. However, data analytics firm Nansen's deep-dive analysis points to an unsettling trend.
Despite sustained NFT volumes in 2023, royalties for this year only constitute 9.4% of the total payout, a stark contrast to 2022, which accounted for over 64% of the total ETH paid. The culprit behind this disparity is the downward trend in effective royalty rates, which fell from 2.5% in 2022 to a scant 0.6% by July 2023.
Some NFT projects such as Yuga Labs, behind popular initiatives like Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC), are among the few benefiting, receiving 9.4% of all royalties.
Vitalik Buterin Questions Worldcoin's PoP System
Ethereum co-founder has raised four primary concerns of Worldcoin: privacy, accessibility, centralization, and security.
While Worldcoin's Proof-of-Personhood (PoP) system is designed to authenticate unique users without revealing personal data, Buterin warns that any data leak could lead to misuse of identity information. He also points out that accessibility is an issue, as participation requires physical access to a device called "Orb," potentially limiting the project's reach. Lastly, he mentions security risks such as phone hacking and coercion to scan irises.
Despite these concerns, Buterin does see the value in the concept of Worldcoin, and suggests a combination of social-graph-based, general-hardware biometric, and specialized-hardware biometric techniques as a potential solution.