Ethereum Layer-2 network Blast’s mainnet launch on February 29 led to the withdrawal of roughly $400 million from the Ethereum ecosystem and the unlocking of approximately $2.3 billion in previously staked crypto assets. The rollup blockchain scaler offers users up to 5% annual yield on staked Ethereum and US Treasury Bonds produced within the network, managed by blockchain protocol and Dai stablecoin creator MakerDAO.
Blast Network Gains User Attention
Blast network had locked the crypto assets sent to it before the mainnet launch and did not provide its 180,000 users any way to withdraw the funds sent so far. Many analysts in the crypto community have voiced their criticisms regarding this issue.
Blockchain data analysis platform DeFiLlama reports that Blast’s total locked value peaked at $2.27 billion on February 29, then dropped by 17.5% to $1.87 billion after the launch due to a withdrawal of just under $400 million.
The network first surpassed the $2 billion TVL milestone on February 27, capturing everyone’s attention. Airdrop hunters continue to flood the blockchain ecosystem, performing numerous transactions in the hope of getting a share of a Blast token airdrop event that the team mentioned would come in May.
Debates Surrounding Blast
Blast’s launch also sparked controversy. Dan Robinson, research director at Blast’s seed investor Paradigm, wrote in a November article published on X that the venture firm disagreed with Blast’s decision to launch the bridge before Layer-2 or to prohibit withdrawals for three months, believing it set a bad precedent for other projects. Robinson stated:
“We also think that much of the marketing cheapens the work of a serious team. We do not endorse these tactics.”
On February 26, the network experienced its first rug-pull scam after a protocol named Risk on Blast collected 420 Ethereum in user funds, worth $1.25 million at the time, for the marketed RISK presale token. Following this incident, many users began to question their trust in Blast, likening it to the rug-pull scams that occurred in the Solana ecosystem.
