What is Blast? Learn about layer 2 providing native yield on the Ethereum network

On November 21, 2023, the NFT Blur exchange announced the conduct of the second airdrop along with the launch of a completely new layer 2 called Blast. This is a layer 2 focused on increasing interest rates for ETH and stablecoin holders. So what is Blast? Let's find out in the article below.

What is Blast? Learn about layer 2 providing native yield on the Ethereum network

What is Blast?

Blast is a layer 2 blockchain project built on Optimistic Rollups technology and compatible with EVM. Blast's goal is to provide interest to users holding ETH and stablecoins on the Ethereum network, something that no other layer 2 has done yet.

For current layer 2s, the base interest rate when holding assets such as ETH and stablecoins is almost 0%, resulting in the value of users' assets depreciating over time. Blast solves this problem by providing users holding assets on this layer 2 with native yield from layer 1 Ethereum itself.

Blast's operating model

Blast's interest comes from staking ETH and stablecoins. The profits earned will be automatically transferred back to users. When users deposit ETH into Blast, the project will use them to directly participate in staking ETH through Lido DAO, then divide the rewards back to users.

In addition to ETH, Blast also allows users to earn interest in popular stablecoins such as USDC, USDT, and DAI. By depositing these stablecoins into Blast, users will receive an auto-rebased stablecoin of USDB. Blast will bring the stablecoins that users have deposited to deposit on protocols that hold US Treasury bonds such as MakerDAO, receive interest and then redistribute it to users holding USDB.

According to DeBank, as of noon on November 22, 2023 - one day after launch - the amount of money users have deposited into Blast is over 100 million USD, of which the majority is ETH and DAI.

Expected initial interest rates for ETH are 4% and 5% for stablecoins. You can check the total amount deposited into Blast using the following wallet address: 0x5f6ae08b8aeb7078cf2f96afb089d7c9f51da47d.

An important note is that deposits to receive interest will not be able to be withdrawn until layer-2 deploys mainnet, expected in February 2024.

Blast Community Airdrop Program

In addition to the interest earned when depositing money into Blast, users also receive Blast Points from the Blast Community Airdrop program, which are used to calculate Blast's token airdrop criteria. These bonus points can be collected based on the amount deposited into Blast, as well as the number of people invited to experience the project.

The Blast Community Airdrop reward will be divided into 2 parts:

·      Early users: 50% of total rewards, will be redeemed from May 2024.

·      Product developers on Blast: Account for 50% of the total rewards, will receive rewards as soon as Blast launches testnet in January 2024.

The roadmap for Blast Community Airdrop goes as follows:

·      Early Asset (Started): Allows users to bridge assets to Blast to earn Blast Points from staking activities and referral codes.

·      Mainnet (February 2024): DApps go into operation, allowing users to withdraw money.

·      Redeem (May 2024): Allows users to exchange Blast Points into tokens.

Project development team

The Blast developer team is led by Blur's Pacman, other members come from FAANG, Yale, MIT, Nanyang Technological University, Seoul National University. They have experience working on many major protocols in the DeFi and Web3 fields, mainly on the Ethereum and Solana platforms.

Investors

Blast has raised 20 million USD from three main investment funds: Paradigm, Standard Crypto and eGirl Capital along with the participation of a number of other individual investors such as Andrew Kang from Mechanism Capital, Hasu from Lido Finance and many other individuals. other cause.

Instructions for participating in the Blast Community Airdrop program

- Step 1: Visit the Blast.io website then select Join Early Asset.

- Step 2: Enter the invitation code from the previously joined user then select Enter Invite Code.

- Step 3: Follow X (Twitter) and join Blast's Discord, then connect your wallet to check your Blast Points.

- Step 4: After checking, you need to deposit ETH from the Ethereum network to Blast to maintain your Blast Point. The larger the deposit amount, the higher your Blast Points will be. Additionally, you can also earn Blast Points by using your invitation code to invite others to join.

The invitation code program will be calculated in 3 tiers:

·      Floor 1: It's you.

·      Level 2: The person directly enters the invitation code from you. With this level, you will receive 16% of the Blast Points that the person you invite has.

·      Floor 3: Those who enter the invitation code from floor 2. You will receive 8% Blast Point for each person on this floor.

If you and the 2nd floor deposit 5 ETH or more into Blast, you will have 10 additional invitation codes and a chance to receive Super Spin, equivalent to 10 Normal Spins when participating in Blast's lucky spin. This lucky spin is also another way to get more Blast Points, which increases the bonus point percentage.

Blast Big Bang Competition

Blast Big Bang Competition is a competition aimed at encouraging innovation and development in the Blast ecosystem. The winning projects represent a diverse range of sectors, demonstrating the potential of layer 2 solutions to improve scalability, reduce costs, and enhance user experience on the Ethereum network.

The competition started from January 17, 2024 to February 17, 2024, attracting more than 3,000 project teams to participate and selected 47 winning projects in 7 different fields, including:

·      5 spot DEX projects.

·      6 perpetual DEX projects.

·      8 lending projects.

·      6 GambleFi projects.

·      10 NFT/Gaming projects.

·      10 infrastructure projects.

·      2 SocialFi projects.

Blast Big Bang Competition winning projects will be promoted to all Blast users upon mainnet launch and will receive an airdrop from this layer 2 project itself.

Blast mainnet

Blast has officially set February 29, 2024 as the upcoming mainnet date. At the same time, the total value of locked assets (TVL) on this layer 2 blockchain has surpassed the threshold of 2 billion USD and there are more than 150 thousand people participating in the ecosystem. Blast is the first layer 2 to reach the 2 billion USD TVL mark before mainnet, which shows great interest from the community.

Although it is a potential ecosystem, Blast is still very inviting and there are many risks related to rug pulling and fraud. Typically, the rug pull of the RiskOnBlast project, a betting and trading platform, "disappeared" after raising more than 420 ETH from users. Therefore, users should consider and check carefully before interacting with unclear projects.

Summary

Through the overview article about the Blast project above, hopes readers will grasp basic information about this project to make their own investment decisions. Wishing you a successful investment!