Smart Contract Royalties: How Creators Get Paid on Blockchain

When you buy an NFT, the original creator should get a cut every time it changes hands—that’s the idea behind smart contract royalties, automated payments built into blockchain transactions that trigger when a digital asset is resold. Also known as crypto royalties, they’re meant to give artists, musicians, and developers a steady income long after the first sale. But here’s the problem: most major marketplaces don’t enforce them. OpenSea stopped honoring royalties in 2023. Looks like the code says one thing, but the platform says another.

That’s why people are starting to look at platforms that actually respect the code. Some NFT projects, like those built on Solana or Arbitrum, still honor royalties because their communities demand it. The NFT royalties, a percentage of resale value automatically sent to the original creator via blockchain rules. Also known as blockchain royalties, they only work if the buyer’s wallet and the marketplace both follow the same rules. If you’re a creator, you need to pick your platform wisely. If you’re a buyer, you’re essentially deciding whether to support the artist or just grab the cheapest asset.

Some projects try to work around this by locking royalties into their own token systems. Others use secondary marketplaces that are smaller but honest. And then there are the scams—fake NFTs that claim to pay royalties but have no smart contract at all. The difference isn’t always obvious. That’s why you need to check the contract address, not just the listing.

Smart contract royalties aren’t magic. They’re just code. And code can be ignored if someone has enough power to change the rules. But when they’re enforced, they change everything. A musician who made one NFT in 2021 could still earn $500 a month in 2025 just because someone else liked it enough to resell it. That’s real value. That’s what the system was supposed to be.

What you’ll find below are real stories about projects that tried to make royalties work—and those that didn’t. Some are cautionary tales. Others show you how to spot the ones that still honor the code. No fluff. Just what’s happening on-chain, right now.