JAKARTA The most popular NFT marketplace, OpenSea, has reportedly blocked NFT artists from Cuba. The ban was carried out because of the US government's sanction policy against the country.
According to an NFT Evening report, OpenSea confirmed the ban. It is recorded that around 30 collectors and digital artists from Cuba cannot access the OpenSea NFT marketplace.
The problem surfaced on Twitter social media through the NFT project account from Cuba, NFTcuba.Art. They regret the NFTcuba.Art account which was suddenly deactivated by OpenSea.
"Not only Cubans on the island, but people from other nationals face censorship in Web3 companies," the tweet said. Buying works of art from Cubans is not prohibited in US embargoes."
Furthermore, the NFT marketplace claims that the company only follows its Service Provisions. According to these provisions, it explicitly prohibits sanctioned individuals, including those in sanctioned jurisdictions.
It's been a long time since we posted, it's a shame that this post has to be like this. @opensea has disabled our profile. Not only Cubans on the island, but those who have other citizenship should bear censorship at web3 companies. Buying art from Cuba is not prohibited in the US embargo," wrote NFTCUCA.Art (@nftcubaart) December 12, 2022.
Opensea has banned 30 Cuban artists and collectors so far, according to Artnet. These include Havana-based artists Gabrial Guerra Bianchini and F waybrica de Arte Cubano. In response to the controversy, an Opensea spokesperson told Cointelegraph the following:
"We continue to evaluate holistically what other measures need to be taken to serve our community and comply with applicable laws," said OpenSea spokesman.
The details of the marketplace policy are not surprising because the ban on artists has occurred before. Opensea Markets have also restricted Venezuela, Iran and Syria in the past due to US sanctions.
Although recent bans on Cuban artists have sparked debate on Twitter about NFT market decentralization. This has led artists and collectors to look elsewhere and choose other markets that allow them to participate in Web3.
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