Creators Using OpenSea Earned Over $1 Billion from Creator Fees in 2022

The NFT market slowed significantly in 2022 after a meteoric growth the previous year.

In 2021, NFTs generated over $18 billion in sales, a skyrocketing increase from less than $100 million recorded in 2020. This growth carried over into the first half of 2022 before slowing in June 2022.

Below is NFT data over the last couple of months:

 *NFT Sales 2022 (Cryptoslam)*On OpenSea, one of the leading NFT marketplaces, daily sales volume dropped by 99% between the start of May 2022 and the end of August 2022 as interest in crypto waned globally.

Nonetheless, OpenSea points out that NFTs are continuing to demonstrate their use in rewarding creatives.

According to the NFT marketplace, in 2022, creators using the OpenSea platform earned $1.1 billion from creator fees as of December 2022 with 80% of this year’s earnings from creator fees going to collections outside of the Top 10.

“NFT technology is giving creators access to new, sustainable business models that can be layered on top of existing, Web2 revenue streams. In this new ecosystem, creators have more ownership of their projects, more control of their long-term businesses, more direct connection and engagement with their fans, and a new, dynamic canvas to bring their most creative ideas to life.” – OpenSea

Moreover, OpenSea says that NFTs are proving to be more rewarding for creators than Web2 creator-powered companies.

For context, here’s how these numbers compare to creator earnings from several established Web2 platforms that have helped lay the foundation for the creator economy:

• In July of 2021, Meta said over $1 billion dollars would be paid out to creators on both Facebook and Instagram through the end of 2022
• In 2020, TikTok pledged that it would hit $1 billion in payouts to creators over the next three years
• SnapChat was paying out $1 million dollarsa day to some of its top creators, achieving $365 million over one year
• Patreon has paid out a total of $3.5 billion dollars to creators (as of 2021) in its nine years in business

NFT creators generate earnings directly by creator fees from the resale of their work and instantly settled on-chain between buyer, seller, and creator. The earnings also do not include sponsorship revenue, engagement incentives, or grants.

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