Blast Launches Mainnet, Sets Airdrop Exchange Schedule

Blast has announced the launch of its mainnet, simultaneously granting users access to withdraw locked ETH since late November last year.

Blast Launches Mainnet, Sets Airdrop Exchange Schedule

Blast, a layer-2 solution associated with the NFT platform Blur, has officially initiated its mainnet after a 3-month trial period. As of today, users can now withdraw their staked assets.

Blast gained prominence starting from late November 2023 due to its Ethereum (ETH) staking model and "interest stacking" with stablecoins. While Ethereum provides basic interest rates of 3-4%, Blast utilizes customers' funds for staking elsewhere to generate additional profits, which are then distributed back to users.

During that time, Blast began attracting users to bridge assets to accumulate Blast Points, which will serve as the criteria for token redemption in May 2024.

Additionally, Blast launched a "referral program," offering additional points based on the number of friends referred. Blast commits to adding an extra 16% in rewards if a user successfully refers someone, and an additional 8% if that person further invites others.

Blast's operational model has faced severe criticism as a "ponzi airdrop farming" scheme, especially since users were unable to withdraw funds until the mainnet launch, prompting objections even from investment fund Paradigm. Nevertheless, the Total Value Locked (TVL) on the platform continues to dominate.

As of now, Blast holds over $2.3 billion USD TVL from 182,000 community members, including 469,000 ETH, 77.3 million USDC, 67.1 million USDT, 148,000 stETH, and 24.7 million DAI.

Source: Dune Analytics

Regarding the airdrop, the project announced it will allocate 50% based on Blast Points and 50% for Blast Gold (aimed at ecosystem dApps). The project plans to exchange Blast Points on May 24th.

Arnold Toh, representing The Block, provided insights on Blast:

"Blast has accumulated over $2 billion USD TVL even before its mainnet launch, directly competing with layer-2 giants like Arbitrum One and OP Mainnet. It remains to be seen how this ecosystem will continue to evolve, especially with the upcoming airdrop announcement."

Blast has successfully raised over $20 million USD from reputable investment funds such as Paradigm, Standard Crypto, eGirl Capital, and several prominent figures in the crypto industry. The team behind Blast also includes the founder of the NFT platform Blur, Pacman.