Just days ahead of its mainnet launch scheduled for the end of February, Ethereum layer-2 network Blast has surpassed $2.1 billion in total value locked (TVL). However, much of this locked value comes from users bridging funds to a multi-signature contract to participate in a future airdrop of Blast tokens, scheduled for May. This strategy has raised concerns, as users are unable to withdraw their funds until the mainnet launch.
In November, Dan Robinson, a research lead at Paradigm, a crypto venture capital firm, expressed concerns about Blast's launch, stating that the delayed access to funds set a potentially negative precedent for future projects.
Blast faced further controversy on February 26th with the alleged "rug pull" of a gambling protocol called "Risk on Blast." This project raised over $1.35 million through a token presale, but the team allegedly transferred the funds and deleted their social media accounts.
Despite these controversies, Blast's TVL growth suggests significant interest from the crypto community. Notably, Blast offers native yields generated through established protocols like Lido and MakerDAO, according to its founder, Tieshun Roquerre. Blast previously secured a $20 million seed funding round led by Paradigm and Standard Crypto.