Over the past couple of days, I looked at on-chain data from several leading NFT/creator platforms. After royalties are bypassed or "optional" in various ways on the secondary market, the most obvious effect isn't about who is more or less ethical, but rather that the flow of funds has become more fragmented: the money spent on buying is still there, but after selling, the return to the creator's side has noticeably thinned out, mostly just moving back and forth over short cycles. In simple terms, if the creator economy relies solely on "conscious payments," it will ultimately become a game where liquidity rules everything, and creators end up having to cater to traders.

Additionally, some regions are tightening tax and compliance policies again, and with changes in deposit and withdrawal expectations, everyone is more sensitive to whether they can "cash out smoothly." On the secondary market, traders prefer paths with the lowest fees and friction, making royalties—an "extra cost"—more likely to be targeted and cut. It’s quite a realistic concern.

Next time, I might pay more attention to whether project teams are making royalties a hard constraint at the contract level or just relying on front-end calls. Do you think royalties should move toward being "mandatory" in the future, or would switching to other incentive methods be more stable?