After weeks of discontent within the NFT community, the Bored Ape founders have come up with a proposal to address the creator royalty problem. They suggest the creation of an "allow list" where normal wallets can trade freely without incurring fees for transfers. Also, where only marketplaces that respect creator royalties are allowed to trade NFTs.

The suggestion comes after many top NFT marketplaces have moved to make paying creator royalties optional. It's a decision that has angered and discouraged many NFT creators. Remember, the explosive growth of the NFT sector over the past two years owes much to creator royalties.

In a Substack write-up, Wylie Aronow, outlines how creators can retain their royalties. And collectors kept happy by moving NFTs around without incurring fees. His message is endorsed by the other founders of Bored Ape Yacht Club. After all, "as much as NFTs are about users owning digital assets, they are about empowering creators."  

Aronow opines that "free wallet-to-wallet transfers are a must. People need to be able to move assets from wallet to wallet. For privacy reasons, for security reasons and to respond to hacks, etc."

How Will A Creator Royalties Allow List Work?

The list will only include marketplaces that respect creator royalties and allow trading between normal wallets. For example, when a transfer comes in, it will be checked to see if it's coming from a regular wallet or a smart contract. If it’s a normal wallet, it will be allowed to process. However, since marketplaces don’t use normal wallets but smart contracts, they will be checked "against an oracle of contracts that are known to respect royalties."

If it’s on the list, it will be allowed to transact; otherwise, it won’t.

The idea seems solid, but Aronow acknowledges there will have to be some tradeoffs. One, new marketplaces will struggle to get started because they must be added to the allow list in order to transact. Second, the allow list has to be maintained.

For the latter, it's all about governance, and that is what needs to be figured out.