Scams in the non-fungible token (NFT) space have increased over the past year. It has resulted in NFT platforms looking for ways to protect user assets to prevent these scams from prevailing. However, some of the measures taken have been criticized for also being oppressive to ordinary users.
Opensea is the largest marketplace for NFTs. The company had introduced a policy to curb NFT theft by blocking flagged assets. However, this policy had received a lot of user backlash since it punished users who had no idea they were purchasing stolen NFTs.
On Wednesday, OpenSea tweeted that it would change how it handled NFTs that were reported stolen. In the past, OpenSea blocked stolen NFTs traded on its platform as it investigated the origin of these digital assets. This could mean an indefinite hold remaining on the asset for a long time.
OpenSea later tweeted that it wanted to address its users about the policy they had rejected for a long time. It said that users reporting their NFTs stolen needed to provide a police report within seven days of the asset being flagged.
The marketplace also said that it had previously required these reports in cases where there were “escalated disputes.” However, this will now become mandatory for all the NFTs that users reported stolen.
The changes made by opensea are aimed at preventing false reports. If a claim is not accompanied by a police report within seven days, the hold placed on that asset will be listed. OpenSea has also said that it has eased the process of rescinding claims after users recover their stolen NFTs.
OpenSea later clarified that the requirement to have a police report would apply to new claims of stolen NFTs and not the existing ones. OpenSea is the leading NFT marketplace, and before this year’s bear market, it used to process billions of dollars worth of transactions.
Increase in NFT scams
The rapid growth of the NFT market has attracted scams. One of the most common ways NFTs are stolen is through phishing campaigns. These campaigns are aimed at gaining access to the user’s wallet where they can transfer the asset.
These scams have become increasingly popular on social media platforms such as Twitter. Some of the accounts of top NFT projects like Beeple have been hacked, with users duped into providing their account details to receive a fake NFT mint.
