BLUR Surge as Competitor OpenSea Faces Challenges

Blur’s token has surged by 33% since its NFT marketplace rival OpenSea announced major layoffs.

The news of OpenSea’s cutbacks has provided a significant boost to its competitor Blur, as reflected in the token's price movements.

Initially, BLUR skyrocketed by 80%, from $0.15 to $0.27, within just three weeks. Following OpenSea’s announcement of a 50% staff reduction, Blur’s token surged an additional 33%.

1-hour chart of BLUR/USDT on OKX, screenshot from TradingView on the morning of 07/11/2023

This reflects OpenSea’s difficulties after being overtaken by Blur in NFT trading volume. According to Brad Kay, a researcher at The Block, Blur’s success is due to its distinctive business model. Kay stated:

“It’s very hard for OpenSea to compete because Blur has advantages such as low royalty fees of 0.5%, an attractive airdrop program, and incentives for NFT sellers.”

Royalty Fees on Major Marketplace Platforms
Source: The Block

In contrast, OpenSea’s business model relies on collecting royalty and service fees on its platform. OpenSea has tried to reduce fees to compete and attract new users, but these efforts have not been sufficient, and Blur continues to pull ahead.

See more: Blur Proposes Creator Blocking on OpenSea to Receive Full NFT Royalties

Kay explains that Blur does not profit from fees. Instead, the platform opts to issue tokens. Typically, the project’s founding team retains a certain percentage of tokens initially. The company allocates 51% to the community, 29% to active contributors, 19% to investors, and 1% to advisors.

Despite a cooler market for NFTs since April, Blur has maintained superior trading volumes over OpenSea.

Trading Volume Statistics of Major Marketplace Platforms from November 2022 to Present
Source: The Block

On November 20, Blur is set to host its Season 2 airdrop event, aiming to replicate the success of its first airdrop in February.