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On Feb. 27, the Blast team announced that the ecosystem had reached $2 billion in total value locked. It added that 157,638 community members are now earning yields and ‘Blast Points.’
The TVL milestone is remarkable because Blast doesn’t actually launch on mainnet until February 29.
Blast has reached $2 Billion in TVL.
157,638 community members are now earning yield + Blast Points.
Stay tuned for Mainnet, February 29! pic.twitter.com/qHUYTHhupg
— Blast (@Blast_L2) February 27, 2024
Its Been a Blast
Blast was announced in mid-November as the latest entrant to the already crowded Ethereum layer-2 market. It raised $20 million from crypto venture firms Paradigm and Standard Crypto.
However, Paradigm voiced concerns over Blast’s launch approach, disagreeing with its decision to launch a bridge before its L2 network and the choice to restrict withdrawals for three months.
The platform was also criticized by Jarrod Watts, a developer relations engineer at Polygon Labs. He expressed concerns about the centralization of the network, citing it as a threat to security due to its weak multi-signature setup.
Unlike most L2s, Blast offers additional yields on staking tokens. It offers native yields for Ethereum and various stablecoins such as USDC, USDT, and DAI. These assets can automatically generate yields once they are bridged to the Blast platform.
Additionally, it has also promised an airdrop in May, which has attracted the hordes of degen airdrop hunters and the $2 billion TVL. Users can participate in this airdrop by bridging assets to Blast and inviting new members, thereby earning points that will be redeemable as BLAST tokens in May.
Blast has recently concluded a ‘Big Bang’ competition, which drew in more than 3,000 participating teams. The initiative was launched to stimulate innovation and growth within the Ethereum layer-2 ecosystem, and 47 winning projects were selected.
Big Bang judging is COMPLETE.
3000+ teams started building on Blast during the competition.
We hand-picked 47 winners with help from @Izebel_eth @danrobinson @0xfoobar @_jaechung @loomdart @cl207 @caseykcaruso @santiagoroel @rewkang @will__price @Evan_ss6
Winners below👇 pic.twitter.com/bKrwZuiDA1
— Blast (@Blast_L2) February 24, 2024
Layer-2 Landscape
With $2 billion in TVL, Blast will become the third largest layer-2 network when launched, according to L2beat.
Arbitrum One is the sector leader with $13.26 billion in TVL and a market share of 45%. Optimism (OP Mainnet) is second with $7.5 billion TVL and 26% of the layer-2 market.
Blast is not listed yet since it has yet to launch to mainnet, so at the moment, Manta Pacific is the third largest L2 with $1.9 billion TVL.
The total value locked across all L2s (excluding Blast) is currently at a record high of $29.42 billion, according to L2beat.