Blur is overtaking OpenSea – will it sustain the new position?
According to data provided by Sara Gherghelas, a blockchain researcher and analyst from DappRadar, there is a likely correlation between Blur’s exemplary trading volume performance and the BLUR token launch. Blur has planned to drop its third and final airdrop alongside its token, BLUR, on 14th Feb 2023.
Stimulating the market
Since its launch on 19th October 2022, NFT marketplace Blur has attracted large numbers of users and grown to be a primary trading venue rivaling OpenSea.
OpenSea is the largest NFT marketplace by daily active users and trading volume. The NFT marketplace boasts of 49% market share, which Blur closely contests at 32%. Analytical data from Dune indicates that Blur overtook OpenSea by sales volumes in December 2022.
Blur has planned to gift its users through three airdrops since its conception. The first and second airdrops rewarded care packages to users who listed and traded NFTs on the platform during the bear market. These care packages are to be held and eventually flipped for BLUR.
The third and final airdrop will occur alongside the launching of Blur’s token, BLUR, and will reward the platform users with more than double the number of existing care packages.
Blur users can enumerate the reward points depending on their activities on the platform. Gherghelas of DappRadar noted that approval of users’ sale bids is optional to qualify for points in preparation for the third airdrop. This regulation was set in place by Blur to curb the inflation of points and wash trading.
Blur’s ultimate goal
The three airdrops can only partially shoulder Blur’s success. The platform has been designed to sustain higher trading volumes fueled by seasoned traders. Oskari Tempakka of Token Terminal offered information showing that seasoned traders bring in higher trading volumes than regular traders.
In comparison, OpenSea has more daily traders than Blur, but OpenSea’s trading volumes are lower than Blur’s. The disparity is because more established traders use Blur as compared to OpenSea. The DappRadar report further suggested that Blur’s rapid growth is fostered by the platform’s user-friendly interface and quick transaction speeds.
The platform also charges no royalty and market fees, encouraging traders to use it for larger airdrop incentives.
Is it sustainable?
The biggest question facing Blur is: is its market leadership sustainable? Blur’s success might be crashed after a successful third airdrop. This crash could be fueled by the high amounts of funds in circulation after the third airdrop, which could result in high demand and volume, albeit a mini bull market.
However, these speculations have been countered squarely by the knowledge that 90% of Blur’s trading volume is organic. If Blur maintains high trading volumes after gifting the third airdrop to its users, more NFT platforms might adopt the air drop-driven approach to attract and retain users.
In conclusion, we can only determine the future of Blur after the third airdrop and the launch of its native token, $BLUR.
