The much-anticipated native token of the Ethereum layer-2 network, Blast (BLAST), saw a 40% surge following its launch, outperforming other recent high-profile airdrops.
BLAST started at $0.02 per token, giving it a fully diluted value (FDV) of $2 billion at launch, based on data from Ambient Finance and Aevo, a perps trading platform.
Since its debut, BLAST’s price has risen over 40% to $0.0281, according to CoinMarketCap.
This performance contrasts with other recent token launches, such as Ethereum layer-2 network zkSync (ZK) and cross-chain interoperability LayerZero (ZRO), which have dropped 46% and 43% from their launch prices, respectively.
The BLAST airdrop released 17% of its total supply.
Users who bridged Ether or USD on Blast (USDB) to the network starting late last year received 7%, another 7% went to those who contributed to the success of decentralized applications (DApps) on the network, and the remaining 3% was allocated to the Blur Foundation for future community airdrops.
Despite its strong performance, the airdrop faced criticism from crypto market commentators on X, particularly from those who felt the launch valuation was lower than expected.
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Arthur Cheong, co-founder of DeFiance Capital, expressed surprise at BLAST’s $2 billion FDV, having anticipated a value closer to $5 billion.
Blast, co-founded by Blur creator Tieshun Roquerre, known as PacMan, faced criticism from its seed investors last November.
They argued that the network lacked sufficient features to justify a one-way bridging mechanism, which required users to lock up their ETH for several months.
The Blast airdrop, like other major airdrops this year, attracted numerous scammers on X.
These events are prime targets for scammers who create convincing copycat profiles, as airdrops typically require users to connect their wallets and sign transactions to claim their tokens.
The crypto security service Scam Sniffer reported that one user lost over $217,000 after falling victim to a Blast airdrop scam, having signed multiple phishing signatures.
This highlights the ongoing risks associated with large-scale airdrop events in the crypto space.
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