Amidst the rising demand for liquid staking on the Ethereum (ETH) network from institutional investors, Blast protocol, a layer two (L2) project backed by Paradigm venture capital and Standard Crypto, has set a new record in Total Value Locked (TVL) and community members. According to the latest market data provided by DeBank, Blast protocol has about 308,114 Ether worth approximately $727.7 million. Additionally, the protocol has deposited DAI stablecoins worth $94.7 million into Maker for yield farming, bringing its total value locked (TVL) to over $822 million with 67k community members, making it one of the top Ethereum validators through the Lido DAO.
It is clear that the Blast protocol has grown into a vibrant community backed by a dedicated team of venture capitals and developers. Meanwhile, the Blast network has promised early access members that it is on track for the mainnet launch in February 2024. To ensure the best product release, the company has accelerated its developer hiring process, announcing a job opening for Senior DevOps Engineer and Senior Protocol Engineer.
The Blast network also offers early access members with a 4 percent yield on Ether and a 5 percent yield for stablecoins, with the redemption of the staked assets set to begin in May next year. Early access members are further rewarded with Blast points, which will be available for redemption in May. The protocol has also reassured the community members that their assets are safe in multi-signature wallets, similar to other layer twos like Arbitrum (ARB), Polygon (MATIC), and Optimism (OP).
It is worth noting that Blast is EVM compatible, meaning it is compatible with other blockchains, allowing for yield farming on Ethereum and top-rated stablecoins. Last month, Blast Protocol announced it had raised $20 million from a dozen investors led by Paradigm and Standard Crypto.
The impressive growth of Blast to over $822 billion in Total Value Locked within a short period is a strong indication that institutional investors are highly bullish on Ethereum (ETH) and the DeFi market. The total value locked on the Ethereum network has surpassed $30 billion, with a stablecoins market cap of over $66 billion. Ethereum’s price closely follows Bitcoin’s, meaning the value of Blast’s TVL is expected to rise beyond $1 billion in the coming quarters. However, Ethereum does face competition from other smart contracts networks like Cardano (ADA) and Solana (SOL).
