Blur sees record growth, but is it only because of one reason

• The total value locked on Blur increased sharply in January 2023.
• The official BLUR token will launch on 14 February.

NFT marketplace Blur has made all the right noises since its launch three months ago. As per a tweet by the platform on 4 February, the total value locked (TVL) on Blur bidding pools hit a fresh ATH of almost $40 million.  

Since launch Blur has become one of the most used protocols on Ethereum.

Today, Blur Bidding Pools have reached a new ATH of $39.2m TVL.

This is just the beginning! pic.twitter.com/xtJsqEoSjq

— Blur (@blur_io) February 4, 2023

Additional data from DefiLlama pointed out that the TVL has expanded by almost 50% in the last month. This cemented Blur’s position as a dominant player in the NFT marketplace ecosystem.

Source: DefiLlama

Why Blur is getting clearer

Blur’s increased action on its platform could be attributed to a combination of marketing strategy and enticing marketplace rules. The marketplace charges zero trading fees, unlike other players in the ecosystem. Furthermore, since its launch, it has dropped ‘Care Packages’ containing BLUR tokens, aimed at incentivizing trading activity on its platform. 

Users need to list a single NFT on Blur in order to claim the airdrops, which could be redeemed for BLUR tokens once they are launched. However, the network has postponed the earlier January launch date to 14 February, possibly to continue with the AirDrop-fueled trading activity on its platform.

$BLUR is launching February 14

We know this is past our initial estimate of January and we’re sorry for the delay. We’re trying new things and the extra two weeks will allow us to deliver a launch that hasn’t been done before. Airdrop 3 will continue until then. pic.twitter.com/ZzSyGzjZJD

— Blur (@blur_io) January 19, 2023

Increase in volume and market share

According to data provided by Dune Analytics, Blur accounted for over 37% of the NFT trading volumes across all marketplaces, just behind OpenSea, which had 45.2% of the market share. 

Source: Dune Analytics

While active users on the platform were considerably lower than that of OpenSea, the average number of trades per user was higher on Blur. 

Source: Dune Analytics

Interestingly, Blur also acts as an NFT marketplace aggregator. According to statistics, it was the largest in the ecosystem with a market dominance of almost 70%. 

Source: Dune Analytics

While Blur continues to be a hot commodity in the NFT marketplace landscape, a large part of it is supposedly driven by its AirDrop strategy, which relies on the potential of soon-to-be-launched BLUR token. It remains to be seen whether the platform could continue the good run after the token has been launched.