OpenSea temporarily suspends XP rewards for listing and bidding after community backlash, concerned that this mechanism encourages wash trading and does not support builders.
OpenSea suspends the XP reward system after a series of criticisms from users
As known, on January 28, 2025, the NFT marketplace platform OpenSea had launched the beta version of OS2 with an XP point system, one of the mechanisms to determine the number of SEA tokens users can receive in the upcoming airdrop.
XP points can be earned through listing or bidding activities for NFTs. The higher the value and popularity of the NFT collections, the more XP users can earn, accompanied by a leaderboard to track user progress.
However, the NFT community quickly expressed dissatisfaction with this system, criticizing that it encourages wash trading, prioritizing platform listing/bidding fees over supporting creators.
I cannot express my disappointment as a long term supporter and partner of @OpenSea in the format of their XP farming campaign.
— Benjamin 🧢 (@HelloBenWhite) February 17, 2025
The lack of response from the account/team today is absolutely staggering.
To say there is a total disconnect from the scripted tripe that @dfinzer…
User wale.moca (@waleswoosh) also complained that the XP system on OpenSea was not created to support creators, artists, or genuine participants, but rather creates conditions for those who farm points through risk-free transactions.
They compared this system to Blur, but evaluated OpenSea as even worse because there is no cooldown mechanism between transactions and the royalty fee is 0%. Therefore, whenever a bidding price is triggered, the NFT owner can immediately resell the collection to the next XP farmer without worrying about the spread fee.
The trading activity of the top Opensea $SEA airdrop farmers is absolutely crazy.
— wale.moca 🐳 (@waleswoosh) February 17, 2025
Let's take a look at DE777, the top XP farmer of the last 24 hours.
As soon as one of his bids is triggered, he immediately dumps the NFTs on the next farmer, sometimes within seconds of his bid… pic.twitter.com/q9MAT9XZrN
The account @stonkrates pointed out that a user at the top of the XP leaderboard is estimated to have paid up to $20,000 in transaction fees to OpenSea within 24 hours to farm XP, they simply bid and listed to accumulate points, which is no different from mass wash trading.
In response to the fierce reactions from the community, OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer announced that they will temporarily suspend the XP farming mechanism for listing and bidding activities. Instead, the platform will focus on XP shipments - a new mechanism introduced on February 14.
Additionally, OpenSea will also try to adjust the XP reward mechanism to encourage the purchase and holding of NFTs rather than continuous trading through listing/bidding as currently.
we've heard the feedback on the current XP system, and we're putting a pause on XP given directly for listing and bidding
— dfinzer.eth | opensea (@dfinzer) February 18, 2025
while we don't think liquidity rewards are inherently bad (see more below), we understand that there are a lot of strong emotions towards point systems, and…
Some members of the community appreciated this move, but also expressed surprise that a platform with the influence and revenue like OpenSea made a mistake with the XP mechanism right from the early days of its deployment.
$SEA / @opensea has paused earning XP for listings and offers
— LANGERIUS (@langeriuseth) February 18, 2025
Now, buying and holding earns more points
Considering their recent market share, popularity, and revenue growth, this change is unexpected, but their updates in response to user feedback are commendable
This information comes after OpenSea announced the plan to launch the SEA token on February 13 to reward loyal users and support the development of the ecosystem over time.
According to some sources, the SEA token will be distributed through an airdrop mechanism and does not require identity verification (KYC). However, the details of the tokenomics and the distribution schedule have not been disclosed until now.
Compiled by Coin68
