The nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace Blur has seen its trading volumes and total sell-side liquidity skyrocket since conducting an airdrop on Feb. 14. The reason for the spike could be the start of Season 2 of its airdrops, where 10% of the BLUR token’s total supply will be distributed to certain users based on their activity. The team allocated 12% toward an early user airdrop in the first season that ran from the marketplace’s gated launch in March 2022 through February 2023.
Blur trading volumes (in ETH). Source: Dune
Blur has made a significant dent in OpenSea’s position as the leading marketplace. Analytics from data scientist Hildobby show that Blur is eating into the market share of OpenSea and other aggregators like X2Y2. Blur’s incentive program and advanced NFT trading features are causing users to shift to the platform.
The share of NFT marketplaces by trading volume. Source: Dune
OpenSea feels the heat
Following Blur’s example, OpenSea discontinued its marketplace fee of 2.5% per sale. The fact that OpenSea was willing to let go a significant chunk of its earnings — around $336.8 million for one year — suggests that Blur’s growth threatens it.
The two NFT giants also recently locked horns on the critical issue recently of creator royalties. By restricting the ability to earn full creator royalties on both platforms, creators have to choose between Blur and OpenSea to list collections.
Pacman, the founder of Blur, recently told Cointelegraph’s Hashing It Out podcast that OpenSea started the spat first and that Blur was forced to retaliate with restrictive features like limited royalties on Blur if a collection is also listed on OpenSea. However, Pacman said he ideally wants creators to be able to earn royalties on both platforms. It appears that he wants OpenSea to succumb to the competition and accommodate the aggregator progressively instead of fighting it.
Blur has also incentivized creators and users through its BLUR token, which was also used a way to compensate creators…
..