Blur overtakes OpenSea in six months, more gains ahead?

• Blur’s NFT transfer volume has crossed OpenSea.
• The number of new addresses on Ethereum is still low.

Since its launch in October 2022, Blur [BLUR] has gained significant traction, overtaking industry leader OpenSea in NFT transfer volume, Glassnode found in a new report. 

How much are 1,10,100 BLURs worth today?

Blur marks significant victories

According to the on-chain data provider, the surge in Blur’s market share came after its token AirDrop on 14 February. Prior to the BLUR token AirDrop, the NFT marketplace and aggregator held 48% of the NFT transfer volume in the entire market. However, following the AirDrop, its NFT transfer volume jumped to a high of 78%.

This significantly affected OpenSea as its NFT transfer volume dropped by 21% following BLUR’s AirDrop.

Source: Glassnode

Glassnode stated that Blur’s success within a few months of its launch was due to its nature as a professional trading platform for NFTs, which features a zero-trading fee model and optional royalty payments.

In addition, following the BLUR token AirDrop, the platform implemented a token reward system that incentivizes users to post bids. This has enhanced market depth and increased NFT sales frequency, leading to improved liquidity and trading experiences.

OpenSea attempted to counter Blur’s success by restructuring its fee model and policies, but this had a limited impact as the platforms have different user bases.

We’re making some big changes today:
1) OpenSea fee → 0% for a limited time
2) Moving to optional creator earnings (0.5% min) for all collections without on-chain enforcement (old & new)
3) Marketplaces with the same policies will not be blocked by the operator filter

— OpenSea (@opensea) February 17, 2023

Moreover, Blur’s daily sales frequency per unique user is significantly higher than OpenSea. This, according to Glassnode, creates “a flywheel effect,” with more sellers feeling confident listing on Blur’s platform, creating a larger offering that attracts more buyers.

Source: Glassnode

Glassnode found further that comparing the sale sizes of the two marketplaces revealed that Blur’s approach has created a more lucrative sales atmosphere, as evidenced by sale amounts ranging from 0.3 to 1.3 ETH. In contrast, OpenSea has maintained a steady average of approximately 0.2 ETH for several months.

Source: Glassnode

The Ethereum network is not the winner, after all

While Blur’s activity might have led to increased demand in blockspace and validator fees on Ethereum, contrary to the belief held by many, there has been no appreciable impact on network adoption, Glassnode found. 

While there has been a growth in on-chain activity, the number of new addresses is still 40% lower than this time last year, indicating negative momentum.

According to Glassnode:

“The latest interest in NFTs appear to primarily appeal to existing users, and are as yet, unable to attract new users to the Ethereum network. This also suggests that both NFT marketplaces discussed above, and indeed most protocols, are fighting over the same preexisting user base of crypto-natives.”

Source: Glassnode