The Blast optimistic rollup, an Ethereum layer 2 solution, officially launched its mainnet on 29th February at 9 PM GMT. Since November, over $2.3 billion in ether and stablecoins have been deposited onto Blast, allowing users to earn staking yields and interest.
The launch enables the first withdrawals from the network after deposits have been locked since Blast’s beta launch. The news comes after criticism from Paradigm’s Dan Robinson over the inability to withdraw funds.
Blast aims to attract developers by allocating 50% of its community airdrop to mainnet protocols.
A bonus goes to winners of its Big Bang competition that drew over 3,000 participating protocols.
Some users found a way to deposit funds into Blast before the official launch by sending them to a smart contract address. Over $50 million has already been traded, mostly in memecoins like BlastCat. But depositing early carries risks as tokens can rug pull by removing all liquidity.
Now live, Blast is the 7th largest blockchain and 2nd largest Ethereum layer 2 by total value locked at over $2.3 billion. Users can still earn Blast points until the token airdrop in May. Blast futures trading on Aevo implies a fully diluted valuation of $6.7 billion.
Also Read: Fidelity Exec Joins Ethereum L2 Board
