Blast mainnet launch controversy: New points system "reputation crash" accused of PUA, over half of TVL has migrated

Author: Nancy, PANews

With the previous airdrop feast of Blur, the L2 project Blast quickly attracted a massive funding of up to $2.3 billion in just over three months under the high expectations of its points airdrop. Amidst this astonishing fundraising momentum, the Blast mainnet officially launched on March 1, announcing that 50% of the airdrop will be allocated to Blast Points (users), while the remaining 50% will be allocated to Blast Gold (DApp). To retain market liquidity and accelerate ecological construction, Blast not only allows mainnet users to continue earning Blast Points, but mainnet DApps can now also earn Blast Gold (coins).

However, the point mechanism and exit strategy of Blast have caused dissatisfaction within the community. Meanwhile, as more ecological projects launch similar Restaking point mechanisms, and some DApps promise to distribute all Gold to users, which current ecological projects in Blast are worth interacting with for multiple benefits?

New Point Rules Cause Discontent, Over 60% of Funds Bridged to Mainnet

According to the point rules of the Blast mainnet, in addition to earning points through bridging assets (on an hourly basis) and inviting friends as before, it also allows users to earn up to 22 times the multiplier points and gold points by using certain categories of DApps. For users who have not migrated to the mainnet, there will no longer be weekly point draws, and to withdraw funds, they must first transfer their funds to the mainnet and then wait for a 14-day withdrawal period. All points will be redeemable in May this year.

Regardless of the method, users need to pay high Gas fees to transfer funds to the mainnet, which has led to complaints, especially from users with smaller amounts who face the risk of being "rugged." The opacity of Blast's point calculation rules and issues with point mapping are also being questioned by users, to which the official explanation is that there were system display errors, and they will focus on resolving these issues.

Additionally, the multiplier points of Blast seem to be more friendly to new users, which has caused dissatisfaction among users who previously participated in staking. The reason is that if users do not participate in the mainnet point activities, although the points they previously earned are still held, it also means that this portion of value will depreciate, especially harming the interests of large holders.

In response, some community members stated, "Blast has put large holders on a 'car they can't get off,' not only erasing their early contributions but also diluting the points they earned with real money, while also bearing the financial risks of new projects like Rug." A Twitter user @0xlianjinshu described it as, "The point mechanism of Blast's mainnet is like your mother-in-law saying that a wedding gift of 100,000 is fine, but the night before the wedding, the bride suddenly says to add another 80,000."

As of the time of writing, according to Scopescan data monitoring, over 60% of Blast's TVL has been bridged to the Blast mainnet, with its Bridge currently holding over $1.46 billion in st ETH, ETH, and DAI, but over $880 million in funds have yet to be transferred.

Ecosystem Focused on DEX and Lending, Multiple Projects Will Return Developer Rewards to Users

From the perspective of Blast's mainnet point mechanism, the official has openly expressed strong support for ecological projects. Currently, Blast has listed 26 ecological projects on its official website, primarily focused on lending and DEX, with others covering infrastructure, NFT, and SocialFi sectors. This article reviews 12 popular projects among them, many of which have received hundreds of millions of dollars in funding and have committed to returning all developer rewards to users.

It is important to note that the official has also clearly stated that it cannot guarantee the safety of these designated DApps, and users must bear the risks of usage themselves. Therefore, users should prioritize choosing projects screened by the official and also pay attention to risks such as contract security audits and account authorization management.

Ambient Finance

The decentralized trading platform Ambient Finance allows for the combination of concentrated and constant product liquidity on any pair of blockchain assets through a bilateral AMM. In July 2023, Ambient Finance announced it had raised $6.5 million in a seed round led by BlockTower Capital.

Bebop

Bebop is a DEX launched by crypto market maker Wintermute, allowing traders to enter or exit multiple positions with a single transaction, converting one Token into a Token combination or vice versa.

SynFutures

The DEX SynFutures V3 platform has officially launched on the Blast mainnet and has passed a contract audit by Quantstamp, with 100% of the developer airdrop share being returned to the community. At the same time, SynFutures offers users a triple airdrop opportunity lasting 3 to 4 months, namely Blast Points + Blast Big Bang Champion Points + SynFutures Points, and hints at a token airdrop plan.

Previously, SynFutures announced it had raised $38 million from investments by institutions including Pantera, Polychain, Dragonfly, and StandardCrypto.

YOLO Games

YOLO Games is part of the Degen Gaming platform, providing on-chain games, and has stated that it will airdrop rewards earned from Blast to users and additionally distribute YOLO airdrops, with the project having completed a snapshot.

Mangrove

Mangrove is an order book DEX that does not require asset locking, allowing liquidity providers to quote through smart contracts. It has stated that it will return 100% of the developer airdrop to the community and launch the Mangrove Season 1 points event.

After raising $2.7 million in a seed round in 2021, Mangrove announced last year that it had completed a $7.4 million Series A funding round led by Cumberland and Greenfield Capital.

Thruster

Thruster is the native DEX on Blast, designed to benefit traders, LPs, and developers by utilizing Blast's native yield, custom liquidity solutions, and a more streamlined UI/UX. All LPs are eligible to earn Blast Points, Blast native yield, and Thruster Points. On the day of the Blast mainnet launch, Thruster's trading volume exceeded $10 million, and it announced plans to send full compensation to users affected by front-end vulnerabilities within the next day.

Blitz

Blitz is the first DEX powered by the inter-chain shared liquidity order book Vertex Edge, supporting spot, perpetual contracts, and integrated currency markets, allowing users to earn Blitz Points and BLAST Points by depositing USDB and wETH, with 100% of the Blast airdrop share allocated to the community.

Juice

Juice is a decentralized trading protocol that allows users to directly access liquidity mining and leveraged spot trading on Blast through the Juice dashboard to earn various rewards. The official stated that Blast cross-chain users, Juice testnet users, and holders of multiple NFT series (such as Pudgy Penguins, Anata, ByWassies, CryptoPunks, Azuki, and DeGods) are all eligible to receive Juice Points.

PACMOON

PACMOON is a popular meme on Blast, and users who deposit into Blast before 01:00 on February 27 (Beijing time) can claim its airdrop using an invitation code.

InfinityPools

InfinityPools is a decentralized exchange that can provide unlimited leverage on any asset without liquidation, counterparty risk, or the need for oracles in decentralized contract trading. The development team Lemma Labs behind InfinityPools completed a seed round funding with participation from Standard Crypto, Dragonfly, Nascent, Multicoin, Coinbase, Uniswap, and Wintermute at the end of 2021.

Blast Futures Exchange

Blast Futures Exchange is an integrated order book perpetual futures exchange and the top-ranked DEX in terms of native yield, allowing users to earn an additional 5% interest on their balances while providing easy-to-use trading services. Users can deposit USDB to earn Blast Points and Gold, and the Blast Futures Exchange will use all developer rewards for the community.

Bloom

Bloom is a Perp DEX that supports 50x leverage, has no Gas fees, and supports automatic yield generation. Its contracts have been audited by the third-party security company Zellic, and it has stated that it will return 100% of the Blast rewards to long-term users and liquidity providers. The official website shows that Bloom's investors include Pantera Capital, Ankr, Founders Fund, Pyth, Galaxy, and Biconomy.