In a groundbreaking development, Blast, a pioneering farming project, has witnessed a remarkable surge in deposits, accumulating over $830 million. The project, in collaboration with its key investor Paradigm, is actively working to dispel controversial narratives surrounding its operations. Here’s an overview of the strategic initiatives in place to address these concerns.
Paradigm’s General Partner and Head of Research, Dan Robinson, a seasoned figure in the cryptocurrency space, unveiled a significant advancement in Blast’s technical design. Robinson announced that the protocol is set to undergo a major migration to a new upgrade system, scheduled for implementation next week, as revealed during a recent X session on December 8.
Crucially, Robinson emphasized that the new time-locked upgrade system would be open source from its inception, allowing other projects keen on “emulating” Blast to utilize the same framework. Two GitHub Gist links were shared by Robinson, containing the updates to the LaunchBridge.sol contract. The focus of the upgrade, according to Paradigm, is to “set a better precedent” within the ecosystem.
Previously criticized for its handling of the Layer 2 (L2) narrative and promoting a controversial “single-node sidechain” as an Ethereum-based rollup, Blast is now taking proactive measures to address concerns. Notably, the upgrade targets the withdrawAndLosePoints function, showcasing a commitment to refining and optimizing its technical infrastructure.
Despite facing criticism for the uncertainties in its tokenomic design and attracting liquidity providers with uncertain rewards, Blast has seen its Total Value Locked (TVL) reach new heights. At the time of reporting, the DefiLlama tracker indicates that over $838 million in USDC, DAI, and Ethereum (ETH) equivalents have been injected by Liquidity Providers (LPs).
The majority of this substantial sum was injected during the initial days of Blast’s public beta launch. Crypto investor 21Shares highlights Blast as the fastest-growing network in its Dune Analytics dashboard. It’s noteworthy that Blast is recognized more as a yield farming application than a separate L2 blockchain on Ethereum (ETH), as pointed out by DefiLlama.
With this surge in TVL and the forthcoming major upgrade, Blast aims to redefine its narrative, address concerns, and solidify its position as a significant player in the decentralized finance (DeFi) landscape.