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Blast, an optimistic rollup, has officially launched its mainnet today, unlocking over $2.3 billion in ether and stablecoins. This development introduces a unique feature that offers native yields on Ether and stablecoins, a first of its kind for Ethereum's Layer 2 solutions.
The Blast Mainnet is NOW LIVE
— Blast (@Blast_L2) February 29, 2024
Early Access users can bridge to Mainnet and use Blast-native Dapps that don’t exist anywhere else👇 pic.twitter.com/mt5dJOADMp
Backed by Paradigm Capital and Standard Crypto, Blast operates as an optimistic rollup, a Layer 2 scaling solution that aims to alleviate the congestion on the Ethereum mainnet by handling transactions off-chain and periodically submitting transaction data to the main chain.
This method significantly increases transaction throughput while maintaining the security guarantees of the Ethereum mainnet. Users of Blast can earn native yields on their Ether and stablecoins through Ether staking yields and T-Bills from MakerDAO, with yields ranging from 3% to 5% for Ether and around 5% for depositing stablecoins.
Despite initial controversy over locked deposits, which prevented users from withdrawing their funds after depositing, Blast has attracted significant attention and funds. Over $2.3 billion in ETH and stablecoins have been deposited since its beta launch in November, with over 200,000 users currently.
According to DefiLlama data, around $1 billion in funds have been withdrawn from the platform since launch, leaving a TVL if $1.23 billion.
The platform plans to convert earned points to tokens that will be airdropped to users in May, further incentivizing participation and interaction with the protocol.
For the airdrop farmers, Blockhead contributor Going Onchain has compiled a list of Blast projects that are debuting on Blast.
