These days, there's again a debate about NFT royalties, basically meaning creators want to earn a long-term income, while the secondary market complains about high transaction costs and liquidity being stuck. Every governance meeting, everyone shouts "support creators," but when it comes to paying that little extra, they start nitpicking: voluntary or mandatory, enforced or not, anyway, they all sound righteous.

Last night at a drinking session, I stubbornly argued: shouldn't royalties be given by default? Then I thought about it and found it quite ridiculous—on one hand, shouting for a decentralized free market, and on the other, wanting to rely on protocols as "automatic deduction moral police." The reality might be more straightforward: those willing to pay for the narrative will do so, and those unwilling will go to zero-royalty markets. Creators either bind more rights or accept income that’s more like tips... I don’t even know which is more decent. For now, let’s just leave it at that—don’t treat this water-splashing war as a faith battle.