Blast TVL Surpasses $2B, Aims for Mainnet Launch

Ethereum Blast layer-2 network is set to launch soon having seen a surge in it’s total value locked (TVL) which has surpassed $2.1 billion.

Just a few days before its mainnet launch at the end of this month, Ethereum Blast’s layer-2 network has surpassed $2.1 billion in total value locked (TVL).

Blast TVL Rises By 2,200%

By the time its bridging protocol went live for the first time on November 22nd, it’s TVL had increased by more than 2,200%, reaching a current value of $2.1 billion, as reported by DefiLlama.

Aspiring airdrop hunters have locked their Ethereum in the protocol to harvest a future airdrop of the Blast token, which the team behind the protocol has stated will occur somewhere in May.

This accounts for the vast majority of the value locked in the system. Controversy surrounded the launch of the protocol as users were unable to withdraw funds locked in the platform until the mainnet was launched.

The head of research at the crypto venture capital firm Paradigm, Dan Robinson, stated in November that the launch had “crossed lines in both messaging and execution.”

Robinson felt the delayed launch may create a terrible precedent for future developers. On February 26, the “Risk on Blast” gambling protocol pulled a rug, once again bringing the Blast protocol into the spotlight and stoking controversy.

The GambleFi project held a presale token named RISK, starting on February 22 and concluding the next day. The project has successfully raised 420 Ether (ETH) equivalent to $1.35 million in the current market.

Following the transfer of assets in chunks of the algorithmic stablecoin Dai (DAI) to the noncustodial cryptocurrency exchange ChangeNOW, the team has, as a result, deleted their social media profiles associated with the cryptocurrency.

Midway through November, the Blast protocol was introduced as a scaling option for the Ethereum network. It provides users who stake their funds on the protocol with native yields in Ether (ETH) and stablecoins.

Notably, Tieshun Roquerre also known as the moniker “PacMan,” is also the founder of the NFT platform Blur. A response to critiques of “too good to be true,”  Roquerre defended the Protocol in a post that was published on X on November 23.

He asserted that Lido and MakerDAO generated the blast yield. In the days following its launch, Blast completed a seed round of $20 million from Paradigm and Standard Crypto.