A new NFT marketplace is once again making waves in the crypto market. On February 5, according to data from Dune Analytics, Blur's transaction volume in the past three months exceeded 200 million US dollars, far exceeding similar NFT aggregators. Gem ($38.18 million) and Reservoir ($19.89 million) ranked second and third on the three-month trading volume list.
From the launch of Blur in March 2022, it has attracted a large number of fans in a short period of time by recommending a waiting list; Blur has attracted a large number of users in just two weeks after its public release, surpassing Gem within three days of its launch, becoming the NFT with the highest sales Aggregator; The two AirDrop announced by Blur were the main reason behind the growth at that time. At the beginning of the third AirDrop, it even led to a rapid increase in the transaction volume and floor price of blue-chip NFTs such as BAYC and Azuki. At the same time, under the double blow of insufficient market funds, "Free Mint" and "zero royalties" that have troubled the sustainable development of the project, players are used to "fast in and fast out": an excellent aggregator is currently active in The players in the market urgently need it. Blur is prepared for professional traders, and it just fits the needs of the current market.
If you buy directly in the NFT trading market as before, the difference in reserve prices between different markets and the slow operation response will make it impossible to quickly obtain chips at the right price, and the result will only be misses or losses. In OpenSea or other NFT trading markets, the homepage recommends different new gadgets every day, looking for the pictures you like, and waiting for the transaction after choosing, just like shopping in a market; while in Blur, the homepage only has transaction data of popular items Kanban, only fast-paced buying and selling, as if on an exchange.
Blurred
Blur is an NFT marketplace and aggregator designed for professional traders with many innovative features. The official definition of itself is "a combination of a real-time NFT market and an aggregator", supports NFT batch transactions, and adopts zero royalties (Opensea takes a 5% fee). The Blur platform aggregates NFT series from leading trading markets such as OpenSea, LooksRare, and X2Y2, and also allows users to list their own NFT assets on Blur. Unlike many other NFT markets that charge transaction commissions, Blur maintains a 0% NFT transaction fee Rate.
team background
In March 2022, Blur announced that it had received more than US$14 million in financing, led by Paradigm, and participating investors included Keyboard Monkey, LedgerStatus, 0xMaki, Santiago Santos, Zeneca, Deeze and other institutional and angel investors. Blur's team consists of developers from well-known institutions such as MIT, Citadel, Five Rings Capital, Twitch, Brex, Square, and Y Combinator.
Behind Blur's fiery
Operations and interface for crypto veterans
Open Blur.io, click the link to the wallet, the system will prompt the user to connect their Web3 wallet (currently supports MetaMask, WalletConnect and Coinbase wallet), and start exploring various NFTs on the website after the link is successful.
By default, collections are listed in order of daily trade volume, and some key data is displayed (such as floor price, number of holders, and various price and volume indicators). Users can also view all Ethereum-based NFTs in their wallets through Blur's Portfolio tab, and then easily track listed NFTs and their rarity, estimated collectible value, and lifetime profit and loss statement.
The Blur interface is customizable, and users can switch between multiple views (such as lists and tiles) according to their preferences when browsing NFT collections. Unlike OpenSea, where users need to switch tabs to view sales history or other analytics, Blur presents everything on a single page, making it easier to access and compare all relevant NFT collectible data.
As described above, OpenSea is like a "bazaar", which is also friendly to inexperienced novices; while Blur is an "exchange", which is more for veterans and advanced users in the encryption world. Overall, Blur works great as an aggregator.
Provide traders with efficient and convenient functions
The Blur platform operates ten times faster than other NFT aggregators, showing pending transactions on NFTs in less than 1 second and updating the list every 4 seconds. The lightning-fast display of pending transactions, combined with near-instant metadata updates on collectible art displays, provides a huge advantage for users who want to "fast in and fast out". In addition, Blur's gas priority presets can help transaction users stay ahead of their opponents who purchase NFT through other exchanges or aggregators. Most importantly, Blur's contracts are more optimized than other markets, saving users up to 17% in gas fees.
Another well-received feature of Blur is that it can clearly display the rarity of different NFTs and the floor price under specific attributes. On the Blur platform, instead of evaluating NFTs above the floor price through series listings and sales history, the lowest-priced NFT listings are found based on individual characteristics. This feature can not only help users accurately evaluate their own assets, but also allow those NFT buyers looking to Bottom Fishing benefit. At the same time, for those users who want to Bottom Fishing, Blur also provides corresponding tools. All NFT series have an in-depth floor price analysis chart, which can show how many NFTs are listed above different floor prices, so that Bottom Fishing users can intuitively understand the NFTs they purchased How will it affect the market.
As a platform focused on NFT transactions, Blur's advantages are indeed ahead of similar projects currently on the market, but currently Blur only supports Ethereum, but its team said that it plans to add more public chains in the future.
Blur's "Custom Royalty" vs. "Zero Fee"
Royalties have always been a sensitive topic in the NFT trading market. "Traders want to maximize profits, collectors want to support creators, and creators want to get more royalties." Because royalties cannot be enforced across multiple marketplaces and therefore vary from platform to platform, when traders list on Blur, they can customize the royalties for their listings.
Previously, SudoSwap and X2Y2's zero-royalty and custom-made royalties respectively have caused a lot of discussion in the market. The market believes that custom or zero-royalty will cause the project party to lose part of the funds for continuous development. Therefore, Blur hopes to encourage expectations through AirDrop to encourage prospective traders to use royalties. In the second AirDrop, the higher the user royalty setting of Blur, the higher the loyalty and more AirDrop will be obtained. But in fact, this kind of expected encouragement did not prevent low royalties or even zero royalties. Blur’s overall average royalty rate is still very low, and even led to a decline in royalties in the overall NFT market.
Blur doesn't charge users a fee like OpenSea, LooksRare and X2Y2 do. There is no cost for traders to use Blur aggregator, trading market and other features. Under the premise that the royalties are customized, traders can directly obtain full income, but the current zero fee should be used as a short-term strategy to attract new users.
However, due to Blur's custom royalties, it also led to the "blacklist dispute" between Blur and OpenSea.
Blur and OpenSea's blacklist battle
In November 2022, OpenSea will implement a new policy: NFT projects seeking mandatory royalties must block those markets that do not fully respect them. Since Blur did not enforce royalties at the time, it was pulled into the blacklist, which resulted in NFT collectibles that enforced royalties on OpenSea not being able to trade on Blur. After that, Blur tried to communicate with OpenSea, intending to remove itself from the blacklist, but was rejected.
On February 1, Blur created a new NFT trading system by utilizing OpenSea's Seaport, bypassing OpenSea's blacklist controls. Since Seaport is not on OpenSea's blacklist, the NFT items that led to Blur's blacklist can now be traded through the new system, with royalties enforced.
Blur currently has two systems for executing trades on its marketplace. The old system continues to handle NFT projects that did not block it, while the new system takes care of NFT projects that previously blocked it. Since Blur will automatically select the system, it brings users a smooth experience.
Generally speaking, "zero royalties" makes it more difficult for small and medium-sized creators/project parties. But it's not so much Blur's fault as Blur's adaptation to the market. The severe cold in the encryption market in 2022 has not completely receded. The current active users are mainly traders, and it is the current market represented by these trading users that has created the current Blur.
write at the end
It is good for Blur to use aggregators as traffic importers in the market, but the subsequent challenges are still severe. Gem under OpenSea will work hard to narrow the gap in user experience and regain the top deal on the aggregator track. From OpenSea launching the Collection Offer and the Beta version of the data dashboard, it can be seen that OpenSea has also sensed the changes in user needs in the current market environment. It is possible to integrate Gem into the market more seamlessly. Blur needs to continue to maintain its The core of differentiated advantages, but "zero royalties" and "no handling fees" do fit the current market, and the future of DNA is still unknown.
At the same time, professional users may find Blur's experience acceptable, but crypto newcomers may feel that the features offered by Blur cannot match the ease of use offered by marketplaces such as OpenSea. Blur also has the potential to grow its user base as crypto and NFT apps become more popular; but if it wants to outperform OpenSea, it will need to make its platform more accessible and friendly to a wider audience, both for professional users and beginners.
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