Ethereum's layer-2 network, Blast, has surpassed a total value locked (TVL) of $2 billion and 150,000 users, just days before its highly anticipated mainnet debut, which will go live on February 29 at 1PM PST (March 1 at 5AM HKT).
DefiLlama reports that Blast's TVL has reached $2.327 billion, as of the time of writing, marking an impressive increase of over 2,200% since its bridging protocol initially became operational on November 22.
Blast Airdrop?
A significant portion of this value is attributed to individuals anticipating an airdrop, having deposited their Ethereum into the protocol in anticipation of receiving Blast tokens in a future airdrop announced for May by the protocol's developers.
Controversies & The First Rug Pull in Blast
However, the rollout of the Blast protocol has not been without its challenges. The protocol faced criticism for not allowing users to withdraw their funds until the launch of the mainnet.
In November, Paradigm's research lead, Dan Robinson, remarked that the approach taken by Blast in its launch phase raised concerns over its messaging and execution, potentially establishing a concerning precedent for upcoming developers.
Further controversy emerged on February 26 with allegations against a gambling protocol named “RiskOnBlast,” which was accused of conducting a rug pull. This GambleFi initiative had accumulated 420 Ether (ETH), valued at $1.35 million at the time, through a presale of its RISK token, which took place from February 22 to 23.
Following the presale, the team is reported to have transferred funds in Dai (DAI) segments to the noncustodial exchange ChangeNOW and subsequently removed their social media footprints.
Blast Overview
Introduced in mid-November, the Blast protocol aims to enhance the Ethereum network's scalability and offers users native yields in Ether (ETH) and stablecoins for staking their assets.
Tieshun Roquerre, known by the pseudonym “PacMan” and the founder of the NFT platform Blur, leads Blast. In a post on X dated November 23, Roquerre responded to skepticism about the protocol's yields, stating they were backed by Lido and MakerDAO's mechanisms.
Just before its introduction, Blast successfully completed a $20 million seed funding round, spearheaded by Paradigm and Standard Crypto.
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