Blast (BLAST)

Blast is an Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain technology with native ETH and stablecoin staking, founded by Tieshun Roquerre, aka Pacman, CEO and founder of BLUR. Blast offers the opportunity to earn a fixed 4% APR for ETH and a 5% APR for stablecoins. This opportunity comes without the risks associated with alternative methods of earning, such as liquidity pools or farming, and without the high Ethereum chain fees.

To enable native staking of Ethereum and stablecoins on its L2 chain, Blast uses auto rebasing on its L2 network. After Ethereum's Shanghai upgrade, Blast automatically transfers ETH staking yields from Layer 1 (initially via Lido) to users on the L2. Users can also bridge stablecoins to the Blast network to receive Blast's auto-rebasing stablecoins $USDB,  that can be redeemed for USDC when bridging back to Ethereum. In the future, Blast plans to fully replace Lido and MakerDAO with its own native solutions or any other protocols if the community deems it necessary.

To incentivize early adoption of the protocol during its initial stages, Blast has already announced an airdrop (retrodrop) of Blast tokens to early adopters and developers in May 2024. To qualify for the airdrop, users must earn airdrop points by bridging ETH and stablecoins to Blast as well as participating in a referral program.

Since its inception in 2023, Blast has managed to raise over $25M from top-tier funds and backers such as Paradigm, eGirl Capital, and Standard Crypto, while garnering significant attention from the crypto community on Twitter and YouTube. 

Despite positive narratives from media and funds, doubts about the actual trustworthiness of the network persist among influencers and the community. Their main concerns include:

• The Layer 2 network poses a serious security threat to user assets due to its centralization.
• Blast's smart contract is modifiable.
• The L2 protocol isn't actually launched and currently operates via Lido and MakerDAO protocols.
• Users can't return funds bridged to Blast for three months after they are sent.
• There's no documentation yet of the proposed earning mechanisms.

You can find more info about Blast's main concerns here.