As TVL rankings surge into the top three of L2, Blast launches an incentive program, but its sustainability is in doubt

Author: DeMan

On January 17, the Layer 2 network Blast, launched by Blur founder Pacman, announced the official launch of its testnet. At the same time, Blast announced the "Blast BIG BANG" event aimed at developers to attract Dapps to settle in.

The "Blast BIG BANG" incentive program encourages developers to actively build applications in its ecosystem and conduct competitions under certain rules. Winning projects can receive airdrops of Blast tokens and opportunities to connect and communicate with top investors. More importantly, this incentive activity resembles a preliminary selection and rehearsal, with the final stage being the Blast mainnet, which has attracted significant attention from the industry.

The following will introduce this project and the competition it is hosting, as well as describe the related prospects.

TVL Ranks Among the Top Three in the L2 Space, Does Blast Seem to Have a Bright Future?

Blast is the only Layer 2 solution on Ethereum that provides native yield from Ethereum and stablecoins. This solution is led by Tieshun Roquerre, co-founder of the leading NFT marketplace Blur. The successful status of Blur provides strong backing for Blast, and the development team of Blast includes members from renowned institutions such as MakerDAO, MIT, Yale University, and Seoul National University.

According to DefiLlama, Blast's TVL surpassed $100 million on the second day after its launch, and 34 days later, it exceeded $1 billion, currently reaching $1.33 billion. According to L2BEAT data, this TVL ranks third in L2, only behind Arbitrum and OP Mainnet, surpassing established L2s like zkSync and Starknet.

Latest TVL Data for Blast

The impressive data performance and strong growth momentum have also attracted higher-quality connections for Blast.

Theme Poster of PythNetwork's Collaboration with Blast

On January 17, the oracle PythNetwork announced that it would become the preferred oracle partner for the Blast ecosystem. Its on-chain random number solution Pyth Entropy and price feed system Price Feeds have been deployed to Blast. This collaboration will provide developers on the Blast chain with over 400 real-time price feeds and a new source of random numbers, enhancing the data security and availability of Blast. The addition of PythNetwork brings new technical support to Blast's ecosystem, laying the foundation for future innovations.

Under High-Yield Models, Blast Exhibits Cash Generation Ability, Attracting Major Capital Investments

Notably, as a new participant in the Layer 2 space, Blast attracted approximately $700 million in TVL within just 10 days, which is the total amount of funds deposited and locked in Layer 2 smart contracts. This rapid ability to attract users and liquidity has put competitive pressure on other Layer 2 networks. In contrast, the TVL of the already mature Arbitrum is $2.6 billion, only about twice that of Blast.

Blast's yield model is unique, stemming from two main aspects: Ethereum staking and RWA protocols. On Blast, users can enjoy an annualized interest rate of up to 4% for Ethereum, while the rate for stablecoins reaches 5%. These yields are not derived from centralized institutions but are automatically distributed to Blast users through decentralized protocols. In comparison, the default interest rate for other Layer 2 networks is 0%, which significantly enhances Blast's attractiveness.

As of January 1, an ETH whale deposited 6,293 ETH into Blast, with a total value of $14.41 million. This whale has cumulatively deposited 24,692 ETH into Blast since December 17, with a total value of approximately $56.88 million. The continued support from whales indicates their confidence in Blast's prospects and development. The influx of these large assets will further strengthen Blast's ecosystem and provide strong momentum for future growth.

Additionally, data shows that a well-known Web3 KOL has been continuously injecting funds into Blast, having deposited nearly $24.4 million worth of assets by early January, becoming the sixth-largest deposit address in the Blast ecosystem, highlighting their enthusiasm for Blast.

The Popularity of the Blast BIG BANG Event Exceeds Expectations, But Is It Entirely Supported by the Money-Throwing Effect?

The "Blast BIG BANG" is seen as a detonator for the project's community development, and its popularity has already surpassed industry expectations. Here’s a summary of the relevant information about this event.

Incentive Activity Poster

1. Massive User Participation:

On the first day of the testnet launch, Blast attracted 24,587 participating addresses, and by January 17, over 100,000 addresses were actively participating in Blast. This large user base provides solid support and broad participation for the "BIG BANG" competition.

Activity Data Poster

2. Strong Interactive Attributes:

The "BIG BANG" competition is not just a competitive event 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, whether they are a later-stage project or a nascent idea. Winning projects will be promoted to all Blast users when they launch on the Blast mainnet, and this community interaction is expected to foster the emergence of more innovative projects.

3. More Incentive Methods:

Blast has set up an airdrop plan in the competition, with 50% of the airdrops going to the winners of the "BIG BANG" competition and the other 50% rewarding interactive users. This incentive mechanism encourages DApp developers to actively participate in the competition, increasing their user growth on the Blast mainnet and thus gaining an advantageous position in the competition. Although specific selection details have not been disclosed, participating projects can promise certain user incentive methods and implement them after launching on the mainnet. This provides more flexibility and motivation for project development.

4. Diverse Project Categories:

To increase the diversity and inclusivity of the competition, the "BIG BANG" competition has set up eight different project categories, including perpetual contract DEX, spot exchanges, lending protocols, NFTs and games, SocialFi, GambleFi, infrastructure, and other projects that uniquely utilize Blast's native yield or Gas Fees revenue sharing. The establishment of these categories helps to more comprehensively assess the contributions and innovations of different types of projects, and the longer-term plan is to incentivize the emergence of wealth-generating Dapps, thereby increasing the attractiveness of the Blast platform to users.

In summary, this event essentially resembles a money-throwing game, and the market's enthusiastic response is not surprising, as this is the foundation upon which the Blast project relies. However, how long this model can be sustained remains a question mark.