According to CoinPost, on Wednesday, OpenSea surpassed Blur in 24-hour sales and total sales in the past 90 days, attracting the majority of unique buyers.
OpenSea, the first NFT market for cryptocurrencies, was founded in 2017. In the past 90 days, its total sales on June 26th narrowly beat Blur for the third time, with 2184 transactions compared to Blur’s 2138.
OpenSea also maintains a 39% user share, with 177,565 unique buyers, compared to Blur’s 154,040 in the past 120 days.
The “flippening” this week occurred after the launch of the Blast token, leading to a decrease in user rewards. This reduction in incentive measures caused some of the largest liquidity providers on Blur to abandon the protocol.
Despite OpenSea’s recent successes and the defeat of its competitors in the 24-hour period, Blur still held 62% of the total sales in the past 90 days.
Impact of Reduced Incentive Measures
The impact of Blur’s reduced incentive measures is still being observed, and market participants continue to have differing opinions.
Blur farmer Cbb0fe recently stated on social media, “As Blur farmers, when NFT bag holders realize that we are just providing liquidity for smart holders to exit, they will cry.”
On the other hand, NFT investor OGDFarmer recently tweeted, “No asset class has developed without multiple boom and bust cycles. NFT and its illiquidity, adjacent to cryptocurrencies, will be affected by steroids. It’s inevitable. Looking forward to the next few months.”
Origin of OpenSea
During the bull market in 2021, OpenSea dominated the NFT market, with daily sales peaking at over $100 million. In January 2022, OpenSea announced a $3 billion fundraising at a valuation of $13.3 billion.
However, in 2022, Blur launched a trader-centric NFT market and incentivized users through airdrops, significantly reducing creator royalties to increase trader profitability, garnering market attention. Blur also chose to penalize users interacting with competing markets such as OpenSea.
After the successful airdrop by Blur, OpenSea began to lose market share significantly as participants moved to Blur for the second phase of token distribution.
By November 2023, OpenSea had laid off over 50% of its staff, and its primary investor, Coatue Management, devalued its $1.2 billion investment in OpenSea by 90%, indicating a valuation of less than $20 billion.
A Dismal Year for the NFT Market
On June 17th, Blur’s largest liquidity provider, Cbb0fe, withdrew, and after the initial sell-off, the NFT market is overall rebounding. NFT floor prices have risen, with Pudgy Penguins, Bored Ape Yacht Club, and Milady all increasing by over 5%. After sales dropped to 22 ETH earlier this week, the floor price of CryptoPunks has risen to 27 ETH.
The NFT market in 2024 has been bleak. Top collectibles such as Cryptopunks, Pudgy Penguins, and Bored Ape Yacht Club have dropped by over 50% from their annual highs, and sales have also significantly decreased.
Blur’s rapid rise as the dominant market occurred within a few months of 2022, but this week’s activity may mark the early signs of OpenSea’s resurgence.