Latest Updates On OpenSea’s Controversial Stolen Items Policy
Latest Updates On OpenSea’s Controversial Stolen Items Policy
OpenSea’s Flagging System Issues
On Wednesday, the OpenSea finally opened up regarding a big issue that’s been plaguing the community for this past year involving issues with the platform’s flagging system.
For many months now the community have been sharing their complaints against OpenSea’s “broken” stolen item policy. The policy, which requires users to report if their NFT has been stolen, will automatically make the NFTs at hand unable to be relisted or resold by its new owner.
Fucking scrap for over a year to get an ape, and have it flagged within a few hours of buying it. Awesome. @opensea find me the owner who it was stolen from so I can settle up with them, otherwise step aside. pic.twitter.com/DHMVX0whSm
— Pops.eth (@Pops_eth_) July 2, 2022
This system has been protested to be unfair because the new owners of the NFT end up become victims of the flagging because a lot of the time, users who buy these stolen NFTs are unaware that they were stolen, leading them to have lost considerable amounts of ETH for an NFT which they won’t be able to resell.
Updated Policies
Through their Twitter thread, the OpenSea team explains that they’ve been listening to the complaints made by the community and that they are effectively implementing changes to their system.
3/ We're in this together: as we work to make our users safer, it's on us to keep you in the know.
— OpenSea (@opensea) August 10, 2022
First, users who have reported their NFT as stolen will be able to file police reports in order to confirm the theft of their NFTs.
“For all reports going forward, if we don’t receive a police report within 7 days, we’ll re-enable buying & selling for the reported item. This change will help prevent false reports. We think this is a good 1st step & we’re grateful for the community’s suggestions.“ OpenSea explains.
The second change OpenSea is said to start implementing is to make it easier for victims of the hack to re-buy and re-sell their stolen NFTs.
“We’re making it easier for users who reported an item stolen to re-enable buying and selling when they recover the item OR determine they should withdraw their stolen item report. For example, we’re finalizing details on a simplified process that doesn’t require a notary.“
The team also explained that in the long-term, the platform will be focusing to fix the issue at its root by finding solutions to prevent these NFT hacks and thefts in the first place.
“We care DEEPLY about enabling users to operate safely on our platform. Allowing the sale of stolen items and operating with stolen goods is no sign of a healthy ecosystem…but neither is a lack of trust from those of you who got us here.“ The team says, acknowledging all the criticism they received the past year.
For more info regarding Crypto Alpha and NFTs Alpha. Always follow us on Twitter and Instagram
