Blast launched in November 2023 with one of the most controversial strategies in L2 history: it asked users to bridge ETH and stablecoins to the chain before it even had a mainnet, promising points that would later convert to tokens. The founder, Pacman (Tieshun Roquerre, also behind Blur), was betting that his reputation and the promise of a generous airdrop would be enough to attract billions in deposits sight unseen.
He was right. Within weeks, Blast had over $2 billion in TVL — and the chain didn’t even exist yet. The deposits sat in a multisig earning native yield from Lido (for ETH) and MakerDAO (for stablecoins), which Blast passed through to depositors. Critics called it an enormous smart-contract risk for no functional product. Supporters saw it as a masterclass in incentive design. Both were correct.
Blast mainnet launched in February 2024, and the BLAST token airdropped in June 2024. The airdrop was generous to large depositors but disappointing to small users, following a pattern that had become standard for L2 launches. Blast’s unique feature — native yield on ETH and stablecoins built into the chain — attracted DeFi developers who wanted to build products on top of yield-bearing base assets. Several innovative protocols launched exclusively on Blast.
Blast’s legacy is complicated. It proved that points-based pre-launch deposits could bootstrap an L2 faster than any other strategy. It also proved that the strategy creates a user base that’s primarily mercenary — most Blast depositors withdrew after the airdrop, and TVL dropped significantly. The tension between bootstrapping growth through incentives and retaining users after incentives end is the defining challenge of every L2 launch, and Blast illustrated both sides of that tension more clearly than any other project.
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