Blast crosses $2 billion in TVL ahead of Feb. 29 mainnet launch

Ethereum Layer 2 Blast has exceeded $2 billion in total value locked ahead of its expected mainnet launch this week.

“Blast has reached $2 Billion in TVL. 157,638 community members are now earning yield and Blast Points [rewards],” the project posted on X earlier on Tuesday. Current data from DeFiLlama shows Blast’s TVL at $2.1 billion.

Built by Tieshun Roquerre — the founder of the NFT marketplace Blur, also known as “Pacman” — Blast went live in early access mode in November following a $20 million investment from Paradigm and Standard Crypto, among others.

Blast claims to offer native Layer 2 yield generation for ether and stablecoins — natively participating in staking ether and depositing stablecoins in on-chain T-Bill protocols like MakerDAO to pass on the yield to the Layer 2’s users and dapps.

However, despite the apparent demand, the project has received criticism over how its model is structured and marketed — with members offered more points based on how much they bridge and who they invite to rank further up the leaderboard, unable to withdraw until the mainnet launch.

Earlier this week, a Blast-based gambling project RiskOnBlast allegedly rugpulled investors by emptying funds on Feb. 25 after it raised 420 ether (over $1 million) in a token presale. Its website and social media accounts also disappeared.

Disclaimer: Larry Cermak, CEO of The Block, is an angel investor in Blast.