On January 17, Blast, the Layer 2 network launched by Blur founder Pacman, announced that its test network was officially launched. At the same time, Blast announced the launch of the "Blast BIG BANG" event for developers to attract Dapps to join.
The "Blast BIG BANG" incentive program encourages developers to actively build applications in its ecosystem and conduct competitions through certain rules. The winning projects can receive Blast token airdrops and opportunities to connect and communicate with top investors. More importantly, this incentive activity is more like an audition and rehearsal, and the final stage is the Blast mainnet, which has attracted great attention from the industry.
The following article will introduce this project and the competition it hosts, and describe the related prospects.
Blast is the only Layer 2 solution that provides native yield on Ethereum and stablecoins on Ethereum. This solution is led by Tieshun Roquerre, co-founder of Blur, the industry's leading NFT trading market. Blur's successful position provides a strong endorsement for Blast, and the development team of Blast brings together members from well-known institutions such as MakerDAO, MIT, Yale University, and Seoul National University.
DefiLlama shows that the TVL of Blast exceeded $100 million on the second day of its launch, and exceeded $1 billion 34 days later. The current TVL has reached $1.33 billion. According to L2BEAT data, the TVL ranks third in L2, second only to Arbitrum and OP Mainnet, and has surpassed old L2s such as zkSync and Starknet.
Blast's latest TVL data
The impressive data performance and strong growth momentum have also attracted a higher quality circle of friends for Blast.
Theme poster of PythNetwork and Blast collaboration
On January 17, the oracle PythNetwork announced that it has become the preferred oracle partner of the Blast ecosystem. Its on-chain random number solution Pyth Entropy and price feed system Price Feeds have been deployed to Blast. This cooperation will provide developers on the Blast chain with more than 400 real-time price feeds and new sources of random numbers, enhancing Blast's data security and availability. The addition of PythNetwork brings new technical support to the Blast ecosystem and lays the foundation for future innovation.
What is particularly noteworthy is that Blast, as a new player in the Layer2 field, attracted about $700 million in TVL, the total amount of funds deposited and locked in Layer2 smart contracts, in just 10 days. This ability to quickly attract users and liquidity has put other Layer2 networks under competitive pressure. In contrast, the TVL of Arbitrum, which has been mature and in operation for a long time, is $2.6 billion, only about twice that of Blast.
Blast's revenue model is unique, and it comes from two main aspects: Ethereum staking and the RWA protocol. On Blast, users can enjoy an annualized interest rate of up to 4% for Ethereum, and an interest rate of 5% for stablecoins. These earnings do not come from centralized institutions, but are automatically distributed to Blast users through decentralized protocols. In contrast, the default interest rate of other Layer2 networks is 0%, which makes Blast doubly attractive.
As of January 1, an ETH whale has deposited 6,293 ETH into Blast, with a total value of $14.41 million. Since December 17, this whale has deposited a total of 24,692 ETH into Blast, with a total value of approximately $56.88 million. The continued support of whales shows that they are confident in the prospects and development of Blast. The inflow of these large assets will further enhance the Blast ecosystem and provide a strong impetus for future growth.
According to other data, a well-known Web3 KOL has also been continuously injecting funds into Blast. As of early January, he has deposited assets worth nearly US$24.4 million into Blast, becoming the sixth largest deposit address in the Blast ecosystem, which shows how enthusiastic he is about Blast.
"Blast BIG BANG" is regarded as the detonation point for the development of the project community, and its popularity has exceeded the industry's expectations. The following is a summary of the relevant information of this event.
Motivational event poster
1. Massive user participation:
Blast attracted 24,587 participating addresses on the first day of the testnet launch, and as of January 17, more than 100,000 addresses have actively participated in Blast. This huge user base provides solid support and extensive participation for the "BIG BANG" competition.
Activity data poster
2. Super interactive attributes:
The "BIG BANG" competition is not just a competitive game, but also the best way for the Blast community to interact. It provides developers with a unique opportunity to connect with a wide user base through competition, whether it is a late-stage project or a nascent idea. The winning projects will be promoted to all Blast users when the Blast mainnet is launched. This community interaction is expected to promote the emergence of more innovative projects.
3. More incentives:
Blast has set up an airdrop plan in the competition, of which 50% of the airdrops will be distributed to the winners of the "BIG BANG" competition, and the other 50% will be rewarded to interactive users. This incentive mechanism encourages DApp developers to actively participate in the competition and increase their user growth on the Blast mainnet, thereby gaining an advantage in the competition. Although the specific selection details have not yet been disclosed, participating projects can promise certain user incentives and implement them after the mainnet is launched. This provides more flexibility and motivation for project development.
4. Multiple Project Groups:
In order to increase the diversity and inclusiveness of the competition, the "BIG BANG" competition has set up eight different project categories, including perpetual contract DEX, spot exchanges, lending protocols, NFT and games, SocialFi, GambleFi, infrastructure, and other projects that have unique ways to utilize Blast's native revenue or Gas Fees revenue sharing. The setting of these groups helps to more comprehensively evaluate the contribution and innovation of different types of projects. Of course, the longer-term plan is to encourage the birth of Dapps with a greater wealth effect, thereby increasing the attractiveness of the Blast platform to users.
In summary, this event is essentially more like a money-spending game, and it is not surprising that the market has responded so enthusiastically, which is also the foundation of the Blast project. However, how long this model can last is probably a question mark.
