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A layer 2 network launched by Pacman, creator of the nft Blur marketplace, continues to attract deposits while working on its mainnet.
The total value locked (TVL) for the Blast decentralized L2 blockchain surpassed $720 million, according to data from DefiLlama seen on December 4. The rise to this level represents an increase of $120 million in deposits since crypto.news last reported on Blast's TVL.
Blur co-founder Tieshun Roquerre, better known as Pacman, launched Blast in November 2023 as a native performance chain with a token airdrop attached. The project did not have a main network at the beginning. Instead, Pacman and his team launched a multi-signature smart contract for early users to pre-fund their accounts while earning interest on their crypto deposits.
Less than a month after its launch, Blast is now the third-largest holder of staked Ether (stETH), according to 21Shares researcher. Tom Wan, citing Dune analytics data. The protocol's multi-sig has over $640 million worth of stETH as inflows came in.
Not having a mainnet and using multi-signature generated scrutiny from industry participants, including Paradigm, Blast's main institutional backer. The investment firm said Blast set a negative precedent due to its launch plan.
Blast maintained its position on the chosen model, highlighting that safety is rarely guaranteed. Pacman also posted a thread about X, pointing out similar performance styles used by major protocols like Lido Finance and MakerDAO.
The L2 network is expected to launch its full platform in February 2024, and at the time of publication it was hiring as part of its plan to deliver on its promises. Senior DevOps Engineer and Senior Protocols Engineer are the two roles Blast is interested in hiring.
