Blur, the Ethereum NFT marketplace, will deprecate its frontend on November 12, just days after Blast, a network built by the same founder, announced plans to wind down. The decision sent the
Blur, the Ethereum NFT marketplace, will deprecate its frontend on November 12, just days after Blast, a network built by the same founder, announced plans to wind down. The decision sent the $BLUR token sharply lower.
The Block reported that the NFT marketplace's onchain protocol will remain operational and that BLUR will continue to control the protocol's fee switch. The change applies to the blur.io website, not the underlying smart contracts.
Blend, Blur's peer-to-peer NFT lending product, will also stop matching new loans on November 12. According to The Block, Blur said borrowers have until then to repay or let their loans default, after which it will provide a frontend tool to help users withdraw their assets from Blend. CoinDesk noted that the Ethereum smart contracts will stay live.
Crypto Economy reported that Blur has not disclosed how much is outstanding in Blend loans or how many borrowers are affected.
The shutdown follows a steep fall in activity. The Block's data shows Blur's monthly trading volume peaked at around $1.43 billion in March 2023 and fell to under $7 million exactly three years later. CoinDesk, citing the same decline, put the drop at more than 99.5% and said the fee-free marketplace recorded no protocol revenue over the past three years.
The token reacted quickly. The Block said BLUR fell more than 20% following the announcement to around $0.015, giving it a market capitalisation of about $44 million. The token traded above $5 in early 2023, according to the same report.
Blur's move comes after Blast, an Ethereum scaling network created by Tieshun Roquerre, also known as Pacman. Cryptonews reported that Blast announced its shutdown on October 2. The Block added that Abstract, a Pudgy Penguins-backed Ethereum layer 2, has also said it will wind down.
The Block also noted that Blur has faced criticism for an incentive-driven approach that critics say encouraged airdrop farming and suspected wash trading, and put pressure on creator royalties.
Sources:
The Block: Blur to shut down frontend next month as NFT trading volume dwindlesCoinDesk: Once-largest Ethereum NFT marketplace Blur is shutting down after volumes collapse 99%Cryptonews: Blur NFT Marketplace to Shut Down Next Month as Trading Slows
