Blur, an Ethereum-based dapp, soars to the top 10 NFT marketplaces in record time with $325 million in trading volume in only three months
Blur NFT Marketplace has already become a leading player in the NFT industry, with a real-time aggregator and a strong commitment to creator royalties. With a total volume of $325 million, the marketplace currently holds second place in the Top NFT Marketplaces charts on Ethereum.
The team behind Blur consists of experienced professionals from top organizations such as MIT and Citadel, and they have successfully filled a gap in the market for fast NFT aggregators. Asides from offering enforced royalties on its platform, Blur allows NFTs to block zero-royalty marketplaces.
In addition to aggregating NFT listings from leading marketplaces like OpenSea, LooksRare, and X2Y2, users can also list their assets natively on the platform. Unlike many other NFT marketplaces, Blur does not charge a commission on trades, making it an attractive option for selling NFTs. The platform was first announced in March 2022 and quickly gained a strong social following through its referral program and closed beta testing. On 19 October, Blur officially launched to the public, with the announcement of two airdrops of its BLUR token, cementing its place as a top NFT marketplace.
On 30 December, Blur announced that a third airdrop would take place by the end of January.
Key Takeaways
- Blur has achieved a high level of success in the NFT industry, closing 2022 with over $301 million (233,019 ETH) in trading volume since its 19 October launch. In the first 4 days of 2023, the platform had accumulated an additional $24 million (18,491 ETH) and 40,915 sales count.
- Blur activity has been on an upward trend since its launch, and from October to January, it had increased by 142%, reaching an average of 3,275 daily Unique Active Wallets.
- The average sale taking place on Blur has seen a steady price increase over the past four months, with the highest value reaching in November at $819 in USD and 0.63 ETH, despite the FTX collapse. On the same trend, the sales count reached the highest value in December, with 354,491 sales, an increase of 649% since October.
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Rapid increase in daily unique active wallets despite market challenges
Blur’s NFT marketplace has experienced impressive activity since its launch on 19 October, with a very positive response from the community. Not only has the platform been successful in attracting existing traders, but it has also been able to engage those new to the NFT market.
However, following the industry trend, activity on the platform appeared to be impacted by the FTX situation in November, with a noticeable downward trend in the last two weeks of that month. Between 8 and 27 November, there was a 38% decrease in daily unique active wallets. But after the situation calmed, activity on the platform began trending upward again and has rapidly climbed. Between 27 November and 3 January, there was a 191% increase in daily unique active wallets.
Overall, the daily unique active wallets on Blur have consistently shown growth, demonstrating the platform’s success in the NFT industry. The platform’s ability to recover and continue its upward trend after the FTX situation is a testament to its resilience and popularity in the market.
Record growth in NFT trading volume and sales count
The trading volume of Blur has seen steady growth since its launch on October 19, 2022. As of 4 January, 2023, the platform has achieved a total trading volume of $324 million, placing it second among Ethereum-based NFT marketplaces over the past 30 days.
On 31 October, Blur saw a peak in trading activity due to the highly-anticipated Art Gobblers NFT mint. This event drew a significant number of traders to the platform, resulting in a daily trading volume of $13 million and 6,227 daily sales.
Following the excitement of the Art Gobblers mint, November saw a consolidation of NFT trading activity on Blur, with daily trading volume averaging around $3 million and daily sales of approximately 3,000. Overall, the month saw a total trading volume of $114.8 million and 136,153 sales, representing a 500% increase in trading volume and a 185% increase in sales compared to October.
December saw the continuation of this upward trend, with Blur achieving its highest monthly trading volume to date at $167.67 million and a record number of sales at 354,491. As of the first four days of January, Blur has seen a trading volume of $22,512,300.93 and 40,915 sales. This equates to an impressive daily average of $5 million in trading volume and a 10,229 sales count.
It is worth considering that the current trading volume of Blur may be influenced by the ongoing airdrop campaign. Many NFT traders may be utilizing Blur in order to increase their allocation of BLUR tokens. It remains to be seen whether these users will continue to use the platform following the completion of the January airdrop. Despite being a relatively new platform, Blur has achieved significant usage in a short period of time and appears to be on track to becoming a valuable and enduring part of the Web3 ecosystem.
Advanced NFT trading tools
Blur is an NFT marketplace that aims to stand out from its competitors with various innovative features. One of these features is the platform’s lightning-fast pending transaction times, which display pending transactions on NFTs in less than a second and update listings every four seconds. This allows Blur users to have a significant advantage in sniping NFTs before they are purchased by others. The platform’s gas priority presets also help users outcompete those buying NFTs through other exchanges or aggregators by getting their purchase transactions processed first. Furthermore, Blur’s contracts are more optimized than those of other marketplaces, resulting in users saving up to 17% on gas fees.
Another aspect of Blur that has been widely praised is its user-friendly interface, which clearly displays the rarity of different NFT traits and allows users to see the floor price for specific attributes. This can be incredibly helpful for users trying to accurately value their own assets or for those looking to snipe NFTs with undervalued attributes.
In addition to these features, Blur also excels in its tools to help users “sweep the floor” – that is, to buy multiple of the lowest-priced NFTs from a given collection. All collections on the platform feature a floor depth chart showing how many NFTs are listed at various intervals above the floor, which can be helpful for users looking to visualize the impact of their purchases on the market. When it comes to sweeping NFTs, Blur also includes a number of quality-of-life updates, such as skipping NFTs with pending transactions or that are marked as suspicious or stolen.
These features, while currently only available for Ethereum-based NFTs, have been widely praised by users. The Blur team has also hinted at the possibility of integrating NFTs on other chains in the future.
Blur’s upcoming governance token
The platform has been somewhat confidential about its token structure and governance system. Although it was announced that a BLUR governance token would be launched through the third airdrop in January 2023, details such as the maximum supply and seed investor allocation have not yet been disclosed. Despite this, the fact that Blur has confirmed the release of a token puts it ahead of its main competitor, OpenSea, in terms of decentralization and community engagement.
The first airdrop was launched on 19 October, when the platform became live. This airdrop was eligible for all wallets that have traded an NFT on Ethereum during the previous six months.
The second airdrop was announced on 30 November for all traders who listed on the platform before December 5, 2022. Care Packages contained Blur’s token, BLUR, and eligible users were able to claim their packages from 5 December 2022 to 3 January 2023.
To maximize their airdrop, users were encouraged to list blue chip or more active collections, use all of Blur’s listing tools, and place at least three sweeps on the platform. Setting royalties above 0.5% also resulted in a better airdrop. Loyalty to the platform will affect the rarity of care packages received, with higher rarities yielding more tokens. To maintain a high level of loyalty, users must list their NFTs on Blur at the same or a lower price than on other marketplaces.
The third airdrop was announced on 14 December, and it will be for traders who place bids on Blur. The recommended strategy for optimizing rewards is to place bids on collections with high trading volume, as close to the floor price as possible, for the longest duration. It is not beneficial to have bids accepted nor to accept bids. In fact, accepting bids can actually harm the chances of receiving rewards, which is why some active traders tend to place and cancel bids repeatedly. The Blur team has confirmed that there is no extra benefit for traders based on volume.
The Faceless Founders of Blur
Blur’s seed round in March 2022 was a major success, raising $11 million with the help of leading crypto venture capital firm Paradigm. Paradigm has a strong track record of investing in successful NFT projects, such as OpenSea and Magic Eden, and its involvement in Blur’s funding is a promising sign. The round also saw participation from several notable figures in the NFT and crypto communities, including Punk 6529, Cozomo de’ Medici, Zeneca, and MoonOverlord.
One thing to note about Blur is that the team behind it has chosen to remain anonymous, communicating through pseudonymous online personas rather than revealing their real-life identities. While this is not uncommon in the crypto world, it does create some level of uncertainty, as there is no way to hold the team accountable for their actions.
Despite the anonymity of the Blur team, their investors are likely aware of their identities, and the quality of the team can be inferred from their professional backgrounds, which include experience at MIT, Citadel, Five Rings Capital, Twitch, Brex, Square, and Y Combinator. Additionally, the project’s focus on aligning its incentives with those of the broader NFT community and its reputable backers suggests that it is a trustworthy project. However, it is always important for users to thoroughly research any project before making an investment decision
Final thoughts
Despite the current economic downturn in the cryptocurrency market, the development team behind Blur remains dedicated to the long-term potential of Web3 and NFT marketplaces. From a technical standpoint, Blur outperforms other NFT marketplaces and aggregators, as demonstrated during the Art Gobblers mint event.
While the value of what Blur offers is not in doubt, its ability to achieve widespread adoption may be less certain. While a core community of dedicated NFT traders is likely to continue using Blur, newer or more casual NFT buyers may prefer the simplicity of platforms like OpenSea. As the adoption of cryptocurrency and NFTs increases, Blur may see growth in its user base.
However, to successfully compete with established platforms like OpenSea, Blur will need to find a way to appeal to both expert traders and a wider audience while maintaining its current level of functionality.
