OpenSea Amends Policies to Safeguard Users, Takes Steps to Tacke NFT Theft Situations Better

The small but significant changes that OpenSea is introducing in its existing frameworks is based on the feedback of the NFT community.

By Radhika Parashar | Updated: 12 August 2022 13:37 IST

OpenSea Amends Policies to Safeguard Users, Takes Steps to Tacke NFT Theft Situations Better

Photo Credit: Unsplash/ PiggyBank

OpenSea is looking to automate threat and theft detection

Highlights

OpenSea is introducing several small changes to its existing policies
OpenSea is making easier for users to report stolen items
OpenSea has suffered a bunch of hacks and breaches in recent times

OpenSea, the online marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFTs), is making amendments to its policies to safeguard its users against the thefts of digital collectibles. The platform has decided to involve police officials in theft cases of all magnitudes, rather than only on cases with escalated disputes. The company has also decided to take measures to simplify the re-sale and re-purchase of stolen items once recovered. The small but significant changes that OpenSea is introducing in its existing frameworks is based on the feedback of the NFT community, members of which suffer when they lose their NFTs or mistakenly purchase those stolen by scamsters and find themselves in legal troubles.

OpenSea, going forward, has decided to re-enable the sale and purchase of stolen NFTs if a police complaint is not registered about the incident within seven days of it happening.

“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 finalising details on a simplified process that doesn't require a notary,” the marketplace founded in December 2017 revealed to its 1.8 million followers on Twitter.

Samsung Wins Patent for a Tri-Fold Smartphone With Specialised Barrier Layer for Improved Durability

In a series of tweets, OpenSea admitted that the user-trust on the platform has been damaged after certain cases of NFT thefts led to legal consequences for their next buyers and holders.

“It is against the US law to knowingly allow the sale and transfer of stolen items. We do not want to incentivise theft by allowing our platform to be used to help sell stolen items. In some cases, the purchaser who unknowingly bought a stolen item at no fault of their own was inadvertently penalised. This is one of the most difficult issues we face. Please believe we take it seriously and we've been actively listening to your feedback on how to tackle it,” OpenSea added.

11/ Take @MetaMask: they're already doing meaningful work to help make users aware of what they are signing: https://t.co/D1z2um8vEL
— OpenSea (@opensea) August 10, 2022

The platform is looking to automate threat and theft detection, such as blocking suspect URLs earlier.

OpenSea claims to be the largest NFT marketplace in the world. In recent times, the platform has attracted hackers and crypto scammers on its platform.

ED's WazirX Probe, Promoters' Spat Said to Reveal 'Dark Side of Crypto'

Earlier in July, OpenSea suffered a data breach after an employee at the platform's email delivery partner – Customer.io – leaked user data.

In February, the platform lost hundreds of digital collectibles in a phishing attack and incurred losses worth $1.7 million (roughly Rs. 12.5 crore).

In recent times, several popular NFTs from series like Yuga Labs and Moonbirds were struck by hack attacks.

“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. Doing better begins w/ sharing & listening more. We're committed to improving at both. Thank you for your feedback,” OpenSea noted.

Why is Oppo making strange choices with its flagship Reno series? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Further reading: Cryptocurrency, OpenSea, NFT, Non-Fungible Token

Radhika Parashar

Email Radhika

Radhika Parashar is a senior correspondent for Gadgets 360. She has been reporting on tech and telecom for the last three years now and will be focussing on writing about all things crypto. Besides this, she is a major sitcom nerd and often replies in Chandler Bing and Michael Scott references. For tips or queries you could reach out to her at RadhikaP@ndtv.com. More