The Final Countdown: Who Will Win the NFT War, Blur or OpenSea?

Are you ready for some NFT drama? The war between two NFT marketplaces, Blur and OpenSea, has been heating up, and it's making headlines everywhere.

OpenSea, the old-timer, is starting to feel the heat from Blur, the hot new kid on the block. With their recent updates and release of BLUR token, Blur has been putting the pressure on OpenSea to team up instead of blocking them. Let's take a closer look at what's been going down between these two NFT giants.

Blur's Latest Move

Blur recently made a move that's got everyone talking. They've announced that creators won't be able to earn royalties on both Blur and OpenSea, and they're recommending that creators block trades on OpenSea. 

Yesterday we made an update to our royalty policy. Here’s the blog post accompanying that - it was meant to go out yesterday but due to the launch mayhem we weren’t able to publish until now. https://t.co/jeRcQYkvAr

— Blur (@blur_io) February 15, 2023

To collect royalties, creators will have to block other marketplaces that don't fully honor the fees. This move reduces the royalty percentage to a measly 0.5%, regardless of creator preferences. 

It's a sly move that Blur is using to force OpenSea to collaborate instead of blocking them.

OpenSea's Comeback

OpenSea isn't taking this lying down, though. In response to Blur's new policy, they've introduced optional creator fees with a minimum of 0.5%. They've also stopped blocking creators from listing on marketplaces with the same policies. 

We’re making some big changes today:
1) OpenSea fee → 0% for a limited time
2) Moving to optional creator earnings (0.5% min) for all collections without on-chain enforcement (old & new)
3) Marketplaces with the same policies will not be blocked by the operator filter

— OpenSea (@opensea) February 17, 2023

It's a major shift in OpenSea's strategy, which previously required creators to block other marketplaces that didn't honor their fees. Now, creators can earn royalties on OpenSea and other marketplaces without being blocked.

The Battle Rages On

It's a NFT showdown, and everyone's watching. Analysts say that NFT traders need to keep an eye on the ongoing battle between OpenSea and Blur. 

There are some questions about Blur's trading volume, and whether it's all organic. However, their market share has been steadily increasing, and they're doing well in terms of metrics and product. It remains to be seen whether Blur's strategy to pressure OpenSea into collaborating will work. 

Blur's BLUR Tokens

In past week, Blur's been busy releasing their first tokens, and it's been a wild ride. 

Their native BLUR tokens briefly hit $6 on some exchanges, then settled around $1. There are a total of 3 billion BLUR tokens, with 360 million available to claim. The big question is how much market share they'll be able to retain now that their BLUR token is liquid.

We'll also be watching to see how successful Season 2 of their token incentive program will be, as it will run for at least another 30 days.

Trading Volume Showdown

OpenSea has always had higher trading volume than Blur, but that's changing. In the most recent week, OpenSea's weekly volume was at $87M, while Blur's weekly volume was at $98M. 

However, since December 2022, Blur has been leading OpenSea in weekly trading volume, except for one week in January 2023.

The number of sales and wallets on OpenSea is still greater than Blur, but the gap is closing. On average, the number of sales on OpenSea is 8.37 times larger than on Blur, and the number of wallets on OpenSea is roughly eight times greater than on Blur.

The Epic Conclusion

It's a battle of the NFT titans, and it's not over yet. Blur's been making waves with their new policies and BLUR tokens, while OpenSea's been fighting back with changes to their fee structure. Who will come out on top? 

Only time will tell. But one thing's for sure, the NFT world will never be the same.