OpenSea ends XP rewards for listing & bidding due to community backlash

OpenSea has decided to pause its new XP rewards for listing and bidding on NFTs on the platform after backlash from the community. The XP system will now reward users who buy and hold assets, with higher XP multipliers for long-term holders.

The announcement came in a recent X post, in which Devin Finzer, the co-founder and CEO of OpenSea announced the pause on XP rewards for listing and bidding. He mentioned that the team does not specifically believe that liquidity rewards are bad. However, the current point system usually carries a lot of “strong emotions,” and the NFT market is in a “unique spot.” He added that the team is building OpenSea to support the NFT space for the long-term, hence this part of the rewards program is being paused for now.

we've heard the feedback on the current XP system, and we're putting a pause on XP given directly for listing and bidding

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…

— dfinzer.eth | opensea (@dfinzer) February 18, 2025

The XP rewards system was introduced by OpenSea on 28th January, when the marketplace opened access to its beta upgrade, OS2. This upgrade introduced users to new mechanics, including points to determine their eligibility for the upcoming SEA airdrop. Users received XP for listing and bidding on collections. However, the XP system quickly became a matter of concern for users, who argued that such a system was counterproductive for the real builders and only promoted wash trading. They also pointed out that the team is prioritizing fees over a long-term vision.

The community’s backlash over OpenSea’s XP mechanics

Users on X have compared the platform’s mechanics to Blur. Wale, an influencer and KOL in the NFT space, said that OS2’s mechanics were like “Blur farming on steroids” while referring to the top XP farmer, DE777. This particular user has been farming XP without losing any capital due to his high bid density. Wale pointed out that, “As soon as one of his bids is triggered, he immediately dumps the NFTs on the next farmer, sometimes within seconds of his bid being triggered.”

The trading activity of the top Opensea $SEA airdrop farmers is absolutely crazy.

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

— wale.moca 🐳 (@waleswoosh) February 17, 2025

While comparing it with Blur, the influencer stated that Blur at least had a 60 minute cool down period after a sale, followed by 30 minute cool off period, preventing the user from accepting too many bids in a row. Since OS2 does not have such limit, it lets users trade at a higher frequency. It’s practically “zero-risk farming.”

Similarly, another X user mentioned one airdrop farmer had already given $20,000 away in fees to OpenSea while farming XP. He said, “All of these people are basically wash trading the same NFTs, dumping on each others bids to compete for points.”

The new XP system encourages users to buy and hold

OpenSea has mentioned that it is going to focus on XP shipments, designed to reward participation in OS2 including buying and holding assets. Finzer mentioned that early users of beta who gave feedback in Discord will receive the first round of shipments. He argued that these users helped the OpenSea team improve their product.

The second shipment will focus on new users who bought an NFT asset on OS2. Those who have held an asset from a high volume collection for over 3 months will receive XP multipliers, and the longer the hold, the higher the multiplier. Finzer also added that those who did not get a shipment yet need not to worry, as more shipments are upcoming. For now, the team’s main focus is rewarding users of OS2 who are buying and holding assets.

This means that XP rewards are no longer going to be boosted by wash trading anymore. Users appreciate the new changes. An influencer LANGERIUS mentioned in an X post that the team’s response is “commendable” and these changes were “unexpected,”

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