What Is Blast (BLAST)?
With over $1.6 billion in total value locked (TVL), Blast is currently the second-largest Layer-2 network. One of the fastest-growing chains, Blast reached $1B in Dapp TVL in only 13 days, and over 200 dapps have been launched on the Blast network. In its Q2 2024 report, the Blast chain had 1.5 million users. BLAST debuted for around $0.02 per token, placing it at an initial fully diluted valuation (FDV) of $2 billion.
What Is BLAST?
BLAST is the native token of the Blast Blockchain, an Ethereum Layer-2 scaling solution, launched in February 2024. It aims to enhance Ethereum's scalability by increasing transaction speeds and reducing costs, to provide a more efficient and user-friendly blockchain experience.
Blast uses optimistic rollups to improve scalability by processing transactions off-chain before verifying them on Ethereum's mainnet. Validators on the mainnet can challenge discrepancies through fraud proofs, ensuring transaction integrity and security. As such, BLAST can handle a higher volume of transactions at reduced costs, providing a scalable and efficient solution for developers and users.
Fully compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), Blast enables the seamless execution of smart contracts and dApps originally built for Ethereum. Developers can migrate their existing Ethereum-based applications to the Blast network with minimal modifications, leveraging the lower gas fees and faster transaction times. The EVM compatibility ensures that tools and libraries developed for Ethereum, such as MetaMask and Truffle, are fully functional on Blast, facilitating a smooth transition for developers.
Who Created BLAST?
BLAST was created by Tieshun Roquerre, also known as "Pacman," who is also the visionary behind the popular NFT marketplace Blur. Pacman is a prominent figure in the crypto space with a background in developing and deploying decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols and NFT marketplaces. He founded Blur, an NFT marketplace that allows for the trading and management of NFTs with features including real-time data feeds, batch trading, and detailed analytics.
The creation of Blast was driven by Pacman's vision to address the scalability issues inherent in Ethereum and to provide a more efficient and user-friendly blockchain solution. Leveraging his experience with Blur, Pacman aimed to develop a Layer-2 solution that not only improved transaction speeds and reduced costs but also integrated valuable features like native yield offerings.
How Does BLAST Work?
Auto-Rebasing Stablecoin
Within the Blast ecosystem, both ETH and the native stablecoin, USDB, feature an auto-rebasing mechanism. The balances of these assets in users' wallets automatically adjust to reflect accrued yields without requiring any additional action from the user.
For ETH, this process involves automatically increasing the balance in externally owned accounts (EOAs) as staking rewards are accrued, allowing users to earn staking rewards directly within their Blast wallet.
Similarly, USDB, the native stablecoin issued by Blast, also auto-rebases, providing a seamless way to earn yield from stablecoin holdings. Smart contracts on the Blast platform can opt into this rebasing mechanism, making it easy for dApps to integrate and benefit from automatic yield generation.
Stablecoin Yield
The Blast ecosystem provides yield generation for stablecoins such as USDC, USDT, and DAI. When users bridge their stablecoins to the Blast network, they receive USDB, Blast’s auto-rebasing stablecoin. The yield for USDB is generated through MakerDAO’s on-chain T-Bill protocols.
MakerDAO’s T-Bill protocols operate similarly to traditional treasury bills, offering a fixed return over a specified period. Blast aims to ensure that users holding USDB receive a stable and predictable income stream, providing passive income.
L1 Staking
The Blast ecosystem integrates Ethereum's Layer-1 (L1) staking rewards directly into its platform. Originally using Lido, a liquid staking solution, to facilitate this process, users can benefit from Ethereum's native staking rewards seamlessly within the Blast platform.
Lido allows users to stake ETH without having to lock up their assets, providing them with stETH tokens that represent their staked ETH. These stETH tokens can be used within various DeFi applications while still earning staking rewards. The rewards generated from this staking process are automatically distributed to users on the Blast network.
In the future, Blast plans to explore additional staking solutions or potentially develop native alternatives to optimize staking returns for users.
Gas Revenue Sharing
Unlike other Layer-2 solutions that retain gas fee revenue, Blast programmatically redistributes this revenue back to dApp developers on its platform. The redistribution process involves collecting the net gas fees generated from transactions and distributing them to dApp developers. Developers have the flexibility to either keep this revenue as a source of income or use it to subsidize gas fees for their users.
dApp interactions are thus more cost-effective and attractive. By incentivizing developers to build and maintain dApps on the Blast platform, this model enhances the overall user experience and promotes a vibrant ecosystem of decentralized applications.
Community Loyalty
Users earn Blast Points by participating in platform activities such as bridging assets and referring new users, which can be exchanged for BLAST tokens. The Blast network incentivizes developers to build and innovate within its ecosystem through the distribution of Blast Gold. The separate point system rewards developers for their contributions and encourages the creation of new dApps and services. Developers must integrate with the Blast Points API to receive these incentives, ensuring that the rewards are passed on to the users.
BLAST Tokenomics
The total supply of BLAST tokens is capped at 100 billion. The distribution strategy is designed to benefit various stakeholders within the Blast community:
- Community Airdrop: 50% of the total supply, equating to 50 billion tokens, is allocated for community initiatives, including a substantial initial airdrop of 17 billion tokens. Following Blast's mainnet launch in February 2024, nearly $2.3 billion in previously staked crypto was unlocked on the network. The subsequent airdrop distributed BLAST tokens to early adopters and contributors.
- Core Contributors: 25.5% of the tokens (25.5 billion) are reserved for core contributors who have played pivotal roles in developing the Blast ecosystem.
- Investors: 16.5% of the tokens (16.5 billion) are allocated to investors who have supported Blast's initiatives.
- Blast Foundation: 8% of the tokens (8 billion) are reserved for the Blast Foundation to support ongoing operations, development, and community initiatives.
To increase the scarcity and potentially increase the value of BLAST tokens over time, Blast employs several deflationary mechanisms, including the periodic burning of BLAST tokens by sending them to an irretrievable address, burning a portion of the transaction fees on the network, community-driven burns through various activities and events, and certain smart contracts within the ecosystem that are designed to burn tokens based on specific triggers.
How to Trade BLAST on Flipster?
Sign up for an account on the Flipster website or by downloading the Flipster app.
Click the [Trade] tab.
Search for BLAST, and click on it.
Select the leverage (up to 100x).
Select either a Trigger Order or Market Order.
Input the amount of crypto you wish to trade, or select a percentage of your available funds to use.
Once you have confirmed the details, click the [Long] or [Short] button to open a position.
Disclaimer: This material is for information purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Flipster makes no recommendations or guarantees in respect of any digital asset, product, or service. Trading digital assets and digital asset derivatives comes with significant risk of loss due to its high price volatility, and is not suitable for all investors.