OpenSea Creator Fees Surpass $1 Billion in 2022

OpenSea creators made more than $1 billion in 2022 directly from creator fees, according to a recent announcement on OpenSea's Twitter.

"2022 has been a wild ride, and we want to close it out with a stat that makes us really excited for the future," the team wrote. "This year, creators earned over $1 billion from creator fees using OpenSea."

Creator fees do not include sponsorship revenue, engagement incentives, or grants. These fees are paid directly to creators and come from the resale of NFTs in a creator's collection.

"To us, this demonstrates that the creator economy is evolving," said OpenSea. "NFT technology is proving that effective and sustainable business models exist for creators in web3."

To use web2 comparisons, Facebook invested $1 billion for creators on Facebook and Instagram through 2022, TikTok aims to pay out $1 billion by the end of 2023, Patron paid out $3.5 billion in nine years from 2012 to 2021, and Snapchat paid out $1 million per day to its top creators.

OpenSea is paying out more, faster.

"We see a future where creators have more ownership of their projects, more control of their long-term business, more direct connection with their fans, and a more dynamic canvas to bring their most creative ideas to life than they do today," the company said on Twitter. "We are excited to continue our work both with and for creators, including perfecting our Drops product and making it more widely available to creators very soon."

Web3 creators welcome this development after debate raged over eliminating creator fees on certain secondary marketplaces.