Blast network surges following big airdrop

Interesting data can arise when users are incentivized to use a platform in speculation of an airdrop or the aftermath of a token launch.

Last week, the airdrop was from the new optimistic rollup Blast, which launched its mainnet in February after a somewhat controversial early access period starting in November 2023.

Since its mainnet debut, Blast’s metrics have been mostly on an upward trend. Blast is also already the seventh-largest network by total value locked, with almost $1.5 billion in assets. Blast launched with a lot of hype along with big-name backers and developers, and perhaps most important was its native yield offering on stablecoins and ether. The yield made Blast unique and likely contributed partly to its rapid success.

But part of what may have helped was the idea that Blast could eventually have an airdrop. This was not a far-fetched idea, given that the protocol already dished out “Blast points” in the early access phase, a typical precursor to tokens. Most rollups also eventually have an airdrop as a means toward decentralization .

As of mid-June, Blast pulled ahead of OP Mainnet in terms of the 7-day moving average of transactions and active addresses, although it remains well behind Arbitrum One and Base. That being said, both metrics have been steadily growing since the mainnet went live.

Can that momentum continue now that Blast has issued 17 billion tokens? There is a real possibility it can. For one, this was only phase 1 of the airdrop. Blast has earmarked 50% of its 100 billion total supply for the community and said more airdrops would come within the next three years. Yield is very attractive to many in the crypto space, so it's possible Blast can edge above its peers by appealing to users in that regard.

There was no huge spike in active addresses or transactions after the airdrop claim went live on June 26, which can sometimes happen as claimants rush in. But the BLAST token did have the typical airdrop selloff. Its market cap reached $493 million on launch day but dropped to $367 million at the time of writing.

This is an excerpt from The Block's Data & Insights newsletter . Dig into the numbers making up the industry’s most thought-provoking trends.