- Blur NFT marketplace launched native token seven days ago with a free airdrop.
- Targeting blue-chip NFT collectors, Blur NFT trading volume tops OpenSea’s.
- Opepen Edition NFT art collection surges 1073.33%, Mutant Apes top traded.
Founded by developer Pacman, the new Ethereum-based NFT marketplace Blur emerged in October 2022 with the ambition to provide the perfect marketplace for NFT professionals, such as NFT art collectors or digital artists. Blur introduced zero marketplace fees and claims to process transactions ten times faster than the main competitors.
Indeed, the freshly arrived NFT marketplace already hosts big names in the trending list, such as Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC), Doodles, Meebits, Porsche 911, Bored Ape Kennel Club (BAKC), and more. However, the most noticeable surge this week is claimed by digital artist Jack Butcher, who owns the VV Checks art project.
Currently, Jack Butcher’s newest contemporary art Opepen Edition NFT is in the limelight with a 1073.33% weekly surge in volume, also upping the NFT floor price to 0.88 Ethereum (ETH). Interestingly, the same abstract art collection is trending on rival OpenSea, while both marketplaces scooped up around 10,000 Ethereum (ETH) in trading sales on Opepen NFT.
Did Whales Get The Best Out Of BLUR?
With the recent success, Crypto Twitter is now boiling with allegations that the Blur (BLUR) token was airdropped disproportionately, thus leaving 23 users with the biggest piece of the pie. While the ambiguity surrounding the free airdrop escalated, it didn’t stop Blur from inking 66.8% in the green in the first week, claiming a $420 million market cap and currently trading at $1.09, according to CoinGecko.
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On top of that, blockchain data analytics tool LookOnChain indicates several unusual transactions after a whale bought 2.52 million $BLUR tokens, which were later used to send NFTs back and forth between the same accounts to play the staking system and reap crypto rewards, as well as dramatically increase overall trading volume.
The attempt to artificially produce trading volume to gain rewards is called ‘wash trading.’ For instance, bitsCrunch CEO Vijay Pravin spotted that all three of the largest whale accounts that got airdropped around $3 million BLUR tokens each all participated in in-and-out transactions shortly after. On the other hand, the Blur NFT marketplace claims it has “10x faster sweeping” and is home to 146,823 NFT enthusiasts.
On The Flipside:
- Despite the 320% difference in trading volume, the leading NFT marketplace OpenSea still has twice as many NFT traders as Blur, indicating that most NFTs on Blur are in the higher price range.
- According to crypto price data aggregator CoinGecko, only 10% of BLUR tokens are in circulation, making it easier for the largest Ethereum whales to manipulate the market value.
Why you should care:
The emergence of the Blur NFT marketplace created healthy competition between NFT shops, as OpenSea reduced their marketplace fees shortly after. Besides, the NFT sphere is expected to expand into a $211 billion market by the end of 2035.
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