OpenSea updates stolen NFT policy in response to user outcry

With NFT thefts on the rise, Web3 platforms are increasingly held responsible for identifying and preventing NFT scams. In response to this phenomenon, leading NFT marketplace OpenSea, is making the move to change its policies to implement additional measures against stolen digital assets. 

In an announcement on Twitter, the firm said it will change the way NFT assets that are reported as stolen. All reports would require a police report within 7 days of flagging an NFT being stolen. If there’s no police report in 7 days then the platform will re-enable the buying and selling of any reportedly stolen asset. The aim of this move is to prevent fraudulent reports, as each case related to a stolen asset would have to be backed by a police report. 

In the past, OpenSea would block stolen assets from being bought or sold on its platform indefinitely as it looked into each report. This meant an indefinite hold of these NFTs and their worth. 

This change in policies were made taking into account U.S. legislation, where intentionally selling stolen assets is illegal. In addition to the fact that some unwitting buyers of stolen NFT assets were penalized coupled with the NFT community’s feedback. 

'If we applied this retroactively, we'd be asking months or weeks later for them to take an additional step, when they'd (hopefully) put this behind them,' the marketplace wrote on Twitter.

For long-term plans to resolve this issue, OpenSea is working on finding other solutions to eradicate NFT theft at its roots. The firm announced it is working on automating threat and theft detection.

Photo: Getty