Paradigm researcher says Blast’s dubious launch sets ‘bad precedent’

Paradigm researcher Dan Robinson questioned Blast’s launch scheme, saying the VC firm doesn’t endorse ‘these kinds of tactics.’

Blast, a layer-2 network announced by Blur founder Tieshun Roquerre, is now facing criticism from its own backers after security experts raised concerns surrounding the network model following a rise to over $300 million in total value locked (TVL) in the protocol.

Dan Robinson, a researcher at Paradigm, a crypto-focused venture firm, which backed Blast for $20 million, said in a recent X post the firm has been discussing its “concerns” with the Blast team, noting “there are still many points of disagreement.”

While Robinson emphasized there are “a lot of components of Blast” that he’s “excited about,” he admitted that the way the project launched its products “sets a bad precedent for other projects.”

“That said, we at Paradigm think the announcement this week crossed lines in both messaging and execution.”

Dan Robinson

Robinson’s statement comes nearly a week after Roquerre revealed that Paradigm alongside Standard Crypto and others backed his new venture, aimed at reducing transaction costs for digital collectibles.

On Nov. 24 via an X thread, Blast warned no contract code security is completely airtight and that each smart contract design has its associated vulnerability.

Yet, in a bid to raise funds from the crypto community, Blast launched a one-way bridge, which allocated over $300 million. Additionally, Blast’s asset portfolio provided by DeBank showed millions held in Lido’s staked Ether (stETH) and Maker’s DAI, a decentralized finance stablecoin.

As Roquerre said in his announcement post, Blast will use customers’ funds for participating in Ethereum (ETH) staking, automatically returning the staking yield to the network’s users and decentralized applications.