Blur Token Airdrop Sparks Market Debate, Competition Intensifies Among NFT Trading Platforms

The highly anticipated Blur Token Airdrop ended at midnight on February 15, 2023, distributing a total of 360 million Blur Tokens to the NFT community and platform users. According to feedback, many users received hundreds of thousands of Blur Tokens, and even non-heavy users claimed tokens worth thousands to tens of thousands of dollars, once again demonstrating the wealth effect of airdrops.

As of February 15th at 1 PM, 80.15% of the Blur Airdrop has been claimed. Among them, 35.8% of the airdrop amounts are between 100 and 1000, 39.6% of the addresses received between 1000 and 10000 Tokens, and 7.8% of users claimed between 10,000 and 100,000 Tokens. The top three wallets received 3.2 million, 2.97 million, and 2.5 million BLUR Tokens respectively.

This Airdrop is aimed at trading users, care package holders, and creators during the period from October 19, 2022, to February 14, 2023. Users who participated early in the testing also received additional allocations. The claim period is 60 days, and those who do not claim within this period will lose their eligibility. It is worth noting that this is only the first round of the Airdrop; the second round has already started and will continue until March 14.

Multiple trading platforms released launch announcements before the airdrop, and the market was filled with anticipation. On the day of the airdrop, due to the overwhelming number of users, the Blur official website temporarily crashed. The Gas fees on the Ethereum network soared to around 1000 Gwei, and the contract that claimed the Blur airdrop within 24 hours consumed 980 ETH, ranking first across the network.

The total amount of BLUR Token is 3 billion pieces, which is planned to be fully released within 4-5 years. Among them, 51% is allocated to community members, 29% to core contributors, 19% to investors, and 1% to consultants. The token release adopts a decreasing method: 40% in the first year, 30% in the second year, 20% in the third year, and 10% in the fourth year.

Blur adopts a DAO governance model, and BLUR holders have governance rights over the protocol. The governance process includes off-chain proposals, forum discussions, Snapshot voting, on-chain proposals, and execution. To improve efficiency, Blur DAO has established three committees: security, market, and incentives.

Currently, Blur holds a market share of 33.54% in the NFT market, surpassing OpenSea's 33.12%. However, Blur's fully diluted market capitalization is only $2.428 billion, far below OpenSea's $13.3 billion valuation. Compared to X2Y2, Blur's market share is 1.5 times that, but its market capitalization is over 10 times higher.

The token economic model and airdrop strategy of Blur demonstrate its emphasis on user incentives and community governance. Through multi-stage incentives, Blur aims to cultivate long-term usage habits among users and enhance platform stickiness. Compared to other projects, Blur's airdrop method is more refined, promising better long-term results.

Although Blur excels in product experience and market share, its valuation still has room for improvement compared to the established platform OpenSea. Meanwhile, compared to the community-driven X2Y2, Blur's valuation appears relatively high, which may stem from its strong investment background and team advantages.

As competition in the NFT market intensifies, whether Blur can maintain its leading position will depend on its continuous innovation capabilities and community governance effectiveness. For users who missed the first round of airdrops, the opportunity for the second round of airdrops is still ongoing, and interested users can participate in NFT trading activities on the Blur platform.