The newly launched Ethereum Layer 2 network, Blast has attracted significant attention on the announcement day with it recording nearly a $30 million inflow of bridged funds within hours.
Despite not being able to withdraw bridged funds until the mainnet launch in February 2024, users are bridging funds to Blast with its TVL now reaching approximately $40 million, as per data from Etherscan.
Blast is an optimistic rollup and it claims to be the first layer 2 network offering native yield on ETH and stablecoins including USDC, USDT, and DAI. It participates in ETH staking and gives back yields to users with additional rewards. It also introduces auto-rebasing stablecoin USDB to reward users with stablecoin yields.
The novel L2 is currently live in the early access phase which can only be accessed via an invite code. Users who join through early access will be rewarded with Blast Points which they could redeem in May 2024.
It has notably raised $20 million in funding from prominent DeFi players including VC firms Paradigm and Standard Crypto alongside a number of individuals such as Hasu, Hsaka, Foobar, The Block CEO Larry Cermak, and many others.
Blast is built by Pacman, the pseudonymous developer and co-founder of NFT marketplace Blur, who said in a post that he will oversee the development of both projects. He shared plans to launch new NFT applications for Blur using Blast’s tech and infrastructure.
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