Gate.io Blog Blast Token Soars 40% Amid $2 Billion Airdrop Frenzy: A New Era for Ethereum Layer-2

Blast Token Soars 40% Amid $2 Billion Airdrop Frenzy: A New Era for Ethereum Layer-2

01 January 08:00

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## [TL; DR]
A few hours after its token launch the Blast price surged by over 40%.

Blast is now the 6th largest DeFi protocol based on its TVL and the 4th largest <a href="/price/ethereum-eth" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Ethereum</a> layer-2 network.

Blast’s positive future depends on the team’s ability to meet the promises it made at its launch.

## Introduction 
It seems that some emerging crypto projects still have  interest to use airdrops to distribute their tokens to their community members such as investors and developers. Airdrops help to increase market sentiment towards a new cryptocurrency as well as attracting new users. [Blast is one blockchain based project](https://www.gate.io/blog_detail/4287/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-blast-eco_-opportunity-airdropped-this-week "Blast is one blockchain based project") that has just announced the launch of an airdrop. This analysis assesses how the Blast token fared after the launch of the token airdrop.

Read also: [Introducing BLAST on Startup Mining: Stake to Earn](https://www.gate.io/announcements/article/37518 "Introducing BLAST on Startup Mining: Stake to Earn")
## Crypto Market Analysis: Blast Rallies after the Historic Airdrop Event

[Blast (BLAST)](https://www.gate.io/learn/articles/discover-how-blast/1471 "Blast (BLAST)"), a native token of the Ethereum layer-2 blockchain Blast, showed its entry into the crypto market with a 40% price surge after its launch. On its debut the price of blast token rose from $0.02 to $0.0281 outperforming other established cryptocurrencies. After that surge in value, the market cap of the Ethereum layer-2  ecosystem token surpassed $432 million while its trading volume surged past $656 million, showing a strong market interest.

The [Blast token rally](https://www.gate.io/price/blast-blast "Blast token rally") made it one of the few crypto assets that performed remarkably a few hours after a token launch. Its behaviour after the crypto airdrop was different from that of some leading digital assets like zkSync (ZK) and LayerZero (ZRO) whose values declined after their launch. In fact, at their launch cross-chain interoperability LayerZero (ZRO) and Ethereum layer-2 network zkSync (ZK) lost by 43% and 46%, respectively.

Despite its seemingly high performance some market analysts criticized the token for its failure to attain a higher fully diluted value (FDV). Blast’s FDV was $2 billion at its launch whereas some experts expected it to attain an FDV of at least $5 billion. However, its high valuation of $2 billion shows the <a href="/price/optimism-op" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Optimism</a> that investors have in the cryptocurrency. 
## Understanding Blast Token
Blast is a cryptocurrency that has much utility [within the blockchain ecosystem](https://www.gate.io/learn/articles/blast-ecosystem-preview-which-projects-are-worth-attention/1748 "within the blockchain ecosystem"). The reason is that it supports various blockchain functionalities such as digital asset management, decentralized finance (DeFi) and smart contracts. As a result of its strong foundational technology and unique features Blast has gained much traction within the digital sector. Currently, Blast is the 6th largest DeFi protocol based on total value locked (TVL). Also, it is the 4th largest Ethereum layer-2 network.

The team aims to make Blast a user-friendly and comprehensive blockchain network which offers better utility to the sector than MetaMask. Between November 2023 and March this year, Blast attracted deposits of over $2.3 billion. Similarly, it has more than $3 billion TVL and over 1.5 million users. More significantly, it hosts over 200 decentralized applications (dApps).
## Blast’s Airdrop Distribution Strategy 
The team released 17% of the total supply as airdrop with 7% of it distributed among the users who bridged Ether (ETH) and USD on the network during the beginning of the year. On the other hand, 7% of the tokens went to the users who contributed much to the success of the decentralized applications (DApps) that exist on the network. Lastly, 3% was assigned to the Blur foundation to be distributed as airdrop to its community in the future. 
## Criticisms and Controversies Regarding Blast Airdrop
Some members of the community including investors have raised concerns regarding Blast. For example, some seed investors criticised Tieshun Roquerre, affectionately known in the crypto sector as PacMan, the founder and creator of Blur, for the protocol’s lack of features that justify its one-way bridging mechanism which enabled users to lock their ETH for many months.

The other criticism relates to Blast’s lower than expected valuation after the token launch.  Arthur Cheong, co-founder of DeFiance Capital, believes that Blast should have had a higher valuation than the $2 billion it had. Despite these criticisms the blast token price surged due to several reasons that include the airdrop hype and its strong technological foundation.

One factor that attracted investors was the token’s innovative nature and utility. In addition, several well-known digital projects endorsed Blast, with some of them forging partnerships with it. Paradigm, an investment fund in the crypto and blockchain sector, is one of the institutions that endorsed Blast and partnered with it. 
## Scammers Jump in Amid Blast Token Success

Some crypto scams have tried to divert investors from the Blast airdrop program by having a legitimate- looking copycat of the program. In general, the scammers use various methods such as crypto phishing to lure investors to invest in their scammy projects. As a result, there have always been crypto security concerns when there are airdrop events.

Already, Scam Sniffer, a crypto security service provider, has alerted the community of scammers targeting the potential Blast token airdrop beneficiaries. So far, it has reported that one unsuspecting crypto investor lost $217,000 after signing multiple phishing signatures as he/she aimed at benefiting from airdrops.

A few days before the Blast token airdrop launch date several malicious links were posted on various social media platforms including X and Discord.  One of such malicious links was posted in the Blast Token Discord channel. However, the moderators were alert enough to take it down. Most of the scammers use the same profile picture and similar display name. Dozens of fake posts, purported to have been posted by Blast, appeared in different social media platforms. This calls for a need for crypto airdrop seekers to be alert whenever a new airdrop is announced. 
## A Dive into the Future: What Blast Holds for the Crypto Community
The successful launch of Blast and its airdrop distribution has shown that the crypto market is ready to support cryptocurrencies that offer utility. However, the viability of the Blast token depends on how it will honour its promises to the investors. Likewise, the team behind the Blast token should address the criticisms which the sector has raised about the project. The emergence of a robust system of DApps that offer high yields will definitely attract many users to support its value proposition. Finally, a sustained rise in the token value will likely lure many people to invest in it.

## How to buy Blast Token on Gate.io
To [buy Blast Token on Gate.io](https://www.gate.io/how-to-buy/blast-frontiers-blast "buy Blast Token on Gate.io") you need to create and verify your account on the exchange. If you already have a verified account, login and select the payment method you want to use. You can use a credit/debit card, wire transfer or P2P trading. If you hold any major cryptocurrencies like <a href="/price/bitcoin-btc" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Bitcoin</a>, ETH and USDT you can simply convert any of them to BLS. 
## Conclusion
Upon its debut the Blast token price surged by over 40% to attain a TVL of over $3 billion and attract more than 200 decentralized applications. The distribution of 17% of the token total supply has boosted its adoption and reputation on the market. What the team needs to do now to attract more investors is to meet the promises it made upon the token launch.

<div class="blog-details-info">
<div>Author:** Mashell C.**, Gate.io Researcher
<div class="info-tips">\*This article represents only the views of the researcher and does not constitute any investment suggestions.
<div>\*Gate.io reserves all rights to this article. Reposting of the article will be permitted provided Gate.io is referenced. In all cases, legal action will be taken due to copyright infringement.
</div>

[TL_ DR]

Introduction

Crypto Market Analysis

Understanding Blast Token

Blast’s Airdrop Distribution Strategy

Criticisms and Controversies Regarding Blast Airdrop

Scammers Jump in Amid Blast Token Success

A Dive into the Future

How to buy Blast Token on Gate.io

Conclusion

Unbox Your Luck and Get a $6666 Prize

Blast Token Soars 40% Amid $2 Billion Airdrop Frenzy: A New Era for Ethereum Layer-2

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