**Blur** is an [NFT](https://iq.wiki/wiki/non-fungible-token-nft) Aggregator and Marketplace (Aggregate NFT Exchange) designed to optimize the NFT trading experience and provide tools for professional NFT traders in the ecosystem. It is distinct from other existing NFT exchanges such as [OpenSea](https://iq.wiki/wiki/opensea), Gem, and X2Y2, which focus more on retail and collectibles, due to its use of [Ethereum](https://iq.wiki/wiki/ethereum) to list assets natively. [\[1\]](#cite-id-rwf9ixhq1w)  
  
The Blur interface integrates data parameters such as last sale price, time, the rarity of each [NFT](https://iq.wiki/wiki/non-fungible-token-nft), ongoing transactions, liquidity depth, current gas fees, etc. [\[2\]](#cite-id-ilx1xovlj2)  
  
Blur also has a lending feature known as **Blend** where [NFT](https://iq.wiki/wiki/non-fungible-token-nft) holders can borrow [ETH](https://iq.wiki/wiki/ether-eth) against their NFTs without needing to sell. [\[27\]](#cite-id-oztfnh760me)  
$$widget0 [YOUTUBE@VID](LOGzbEmK9lA)$$  
  
# History & Development  
  
In March 2022, the Blur marketplace was announced, prompting users to refer friends to a waitlist. Before launching to the public on October 19, 2022, a closed beta was run to test the platform, with access given to those with the most referrals and a few select community members. [\[5\]](#cite-id-gncpzw1aull)  
  
Blur marketplace was founded by [Pacman](https://iq.wiki/wiki/pacman) (Twitter: @PacmanBlur)[\[3\]](#cite-id-x4qsknxwmq) who remained anonymous all through Blur's development until the 22nd of February 2023 when he doxxed himself on Twitter. [\[4\]](#cite-id-kmq8t8ggqp)  
  
Within two weeks of Blur's launch, it saw a significant amount of use among NFT enthusiasts. According to the official Blur Twitter account[\[18\]](#cite-id-8vvraqykl4l), the platform had become the highest-volume NFT aggregator just three days after its release. However, it was the Art Gobblers NFT mint on October 31, 2022, that further demonstrated Blur’s potential. Blur’s real-time data feed of NFT sales and listings caused an influx of traders to the platform, resulting in a daily trading volume of 8,453.7 ETH. This placed it in second place behind [OpenSea](https://iq.wiki/wiki/opensea) for 30-day trading volume, ahead of X2Y2 and [LooksRare](https://iq.wiki/wiki/looksrare). [\[5\]](#cite-id-gncpzw1aull)  
  
Following two months of sales growth, Blur overtook the leading NFT marketplace [OpenSea](https://iq.wiki/wiki/opensea), with traders rapidly flipping valuable NFTs. According to data from DappRadar on February 20, 2023,[\[19\]](#cite-id-tdf7qvtn3pm) Blur generated $460 million worth of [Ethereum](https://iq.wiki/wiki/ethereum) NFT trades seven days prior—a 361% increase over the previous span. [OpenSea](https://iq.wiki/wiki/opensea), meanwhile, saw a 12% increase in trading volume to $107 million during that period. The third-place marketplace, X2Y2, tallied barely $11 million in trades in that time. [\[20\]](#cite-id-0hlzhcf55atn)  
  
## Funding  
  
On March 28, 2022, Blur announced it had raised an $11 million seed round led by Paradigm[\[15\]](#cite-id-vadvjq2zq68) for the development of the Blur [NFT](https://iq.wiki/wiki/non-fungible-token-nft) marketplace. Other partners who joined the round included: eGirl Capital, Keyboard Monkey, LedgerStatus, 0xMaki, Santiago Santos, Zeneca, Deeze, Andy (Fractional), etc. [\[17\]](#cite-id-kju88b8j5zp)  
  
The Blur team brings together experienced members from MIT, Citadel, Five Rings Capital, Twitch, Brex, Square, and Y Combinator. [\[17\]](#cite-id-kju88b8j5zp)  
  
## Team  
  
Blur was co-founded by [Pacman](https://iq.wiki/wiki/pacman) who revealed himself to be a developer and investor, Tieshun Roquerre. He mentioned in an interview that OpenSea's shortcomings were what initially motivated him to create a platform for more advanced NFT traders. [\[21\]](#cite-id-3q002tq2kop)  
  
> "I really fell in love with the NFT space. I love the trading side of it, I was just very frustrated. And using OpenSea at the time, I just felt like it was very slow and clunky – you know, good for newcomers, but for someone that was more experienced and native in the space, it felt like I was fighting the platform a lot."  
  
He set out to grow Blur as a platform aimed at courting more advanced NFT traders, which he likened to "a Binance for NFTs." He also cites decentralized crypto exchanges like [Uniswap](https://iq.wiki/wiki/uniswap) and Chinese e-commerce platform Taobao as inspirations for Blur's [tokenomics](https://iq.wiki/wiki/tokenomics) and growth strategy. [\[22\]](#cite-id-6lbn3u0m7mc)  
  
[Pacman](https://iq.wiki/wiki/pacman) and his co-founder Galaga assembled a team of 10 builders and experienced members from MIT, Citadel, Five Rings Capital, Twitch, Brex, Square, and Y Combinator to bring Blur to life. [\[17\]](#cite-id-kju88b8j5zp)  
  
## Royalty Policy on Blur  
  
In February 2023, Blur announced that it would enforce full royalties on collections that block trading on [OpenSea](https://iq.wiki/wiki/opensea). This is a direct response to OpenSea's royalty policy that "prevents collections from being able to earn royalties everywhere". [\[23\]](#cite-id-9b3276z7yc7)  
  
According to Blur, creators have three options: no block, block Blur, and block [Opensea](https://iq.wiki/wiki/opensea), and the third one is recommended by Blur.  
  
> "Our preference is that creators should be able to earn royalties on all marketplaces that they whitelist, rather than being forced to choose. To encourage this, Blur enforces full royalties on collections that block trading on OpenSea."  
  
In addition, Blur noted that creators blocking [OpenSea](https://iq.wiki/wiki/opensea) would be eligible to receive Season 2 rewards.  
![EMgh8CgGRsbuxyIoC5u-Z.png](https://ipfs.everipedia.org/ipfs/QmUXLafUHGs3eDxjUuU5grMdJcaVtdyZGb5TwZTZ4GY9kH)  
  
# $BLUR Token  
  
The BLUR token is an [ERC-20](https://iq.wiki/wiki/erc-20) token that gives the community control over the decentralized autonomous organization ([DAO](https://iq.wiki/wiki/dao)) and allows the community to actively participate in governance.  
  
## Airdrop  
  
On October 19, 2022, Blur announced two [airdrops](https://iq.wiki/wiki/airdrop) of their native token, $BLUR, to NFT OGs and traders on the platform. The first airdrop included digital "crates" and care packages containing an undisclosed amount of $BLUR and it was for people who traded NFTs 6 months to launch. [\[8\]](#cite-id-5wboesrmjeb)[\[11\]](#cite-id-telnbeuaa)  
  
The second [airdrop](https://iq.wiki/wiki/airdrop) included an additional $BLUR granted for listing with royalties and it was made available for traders who actively listed their NFTs on Blur through November 2022. This airdrop 2 mechanism ensures that traders who actively use Blur get the most tokens and control of the protocol.[\[7\]](#cite-id-adbx04oz5ij)[\[13\]](#cite-id-2jqj1vkh3hs)  
![iV4LEmrzHF0_qTsJb6ens.jpg](https://ipfs.everipedia.org/ipfs/QmPdQhZoVb3MwKwvX1Enb2fnq3NgQ7Xko9bLAKhgCoPNoY)  
The $BLUR token officially went live on February 14th, 2023 with a 360M $BLUR [airdrop](https://iq.wiki/wiki/airdrop)-3 made available to all traders across all marketplaces, care package holders, and creators who place bids on Blur since November 2022. It was a larger airdrop than airdrop 2.[\[6\]](#cite-id-2yh07koxuyp)[\[14\]](#cite-id-xlo7jjvhb69)  
  
Blur **Season 1** kicked off on October 19, 2022, which involved [airdropping](https://iq.wiki/wiki/airdrop) Care Packages containing $BLUR tokens to users who traded [NFTs](https://iq.wiki/wiki/non-fungible-token-nft) 6 months priors. [\[24\]](#cite-id-dvhf6e1ijtk)  
  
Blur **Season 2** came live on February 21, 2023, with 360,000,000 $BLUR tokens (\~$ 360,000,000) available for an airdrop to the Blur community. Users with 100% loyalty have the highest chances of Mythical Care Packages, which are worth 100x Uncommon Care Packages. [\[25\]](#cite-id-ddxyqk9eaeg)  
  
In Season 2, users get a 100% loyalty score if they only list NFTs on Blur and do not have any listings on competing NFT marketplaces. Blur has created a new maximize loyalty button that removes all of a user's third-party listings which gets their loyalty score to 100% in a single transaction. [\[25\]](#cite-id-ddxyqk9eaeg)  
  
## Blur Foundation  
  
The Blur Foundation aims to facilitate community-led governance and participation in the [DAO](https://iq.wiki/wiki/dao) and assist contributors with the development and growth of the Blur ecosystem. [\[12\]](#cite-id-b0ei6m0qieq)  
  
## Governance  
  
The BLUR [ERC-20](https://iq.wiki/wiki/erc-20) token governs key parameters of the Blur protocol. Voting is proportional to the amount of BLUR tokens owned or delegated. Users must delegate their token balance to an address in order to register their voting balance. Decisions made by the Blur [DAO](https://iq.wiki/wiki/dao) have on-chain results and the governance process consists of multiple steps. [\[9\]](#cite-id-v7mui97u1y)  
  
### Governance Proposals  
  
BIP (Blur Improvement Proposal) can fall under:  
  
#### CORE  
  
Proposals that require on-chain actions, including treasury grants.[\[16\]](#cite-id-dlo34g4i2l7)  
  
#### PROCESS  
  
Proposals for making a change to a process or implementation. Examples include procedures, guidelines, changes to the decision-making process, and changes to the tools or environment of the Blur [DAO](https://iq.wiki/wiki/dao). [\[9\]](#cite-id-v7mui97u1y)  
  
#### INFORMATIONAL  
  
Proposals for general guidelines or information for the community.[\[9\]](#cite-id-v7mui97u1y)  
  
## Tokenomics  
  
Approximately 3 billion BLUR was created at the genesis and will become accessible over a time frame of 4 to 5 years. This schedule appears to be similar to the [UNI](https://iq.wiki/wiki/uni) token, but with additional cliffs and a longer vesting period for advisors. The initial 4 to 5-year allocation is as follows:  
  
* 51% to Blur community members `1,530,000,000 BLUR`  
* 29% to past and future core contributors with a 4-year vesting `867,601,888 BLUR`  
* 19% to investors with a 4-year vesting `565,633,826 BLUR`  
* 1% to advisors with 4 to 5-year vesting `36,764,286 BLUR` [\[10\]](#cite-id-xfivlx9gyvi)  
  
### ![spaces_rcUIPRjCB2CpDDqUN1Uh_uploads_FP8LN4cxuyzxWK73prX9_Genesis $Blur allocation.webp](https://ipfs.everipedia.org/ipfs/QmVTN1Lnn8vB7kNHLs6s6XkFDwmhrEGDnwjrfrZvo5VqmM)  
  
### Community Treasury  
  
12% of BLUR `360,000,000 BLUR` was available to be claimed by all NFT traders across any marketplace from October 19, 2022, to February 14, 2023, historical users of Blur with Care Packages, and creators. With 12% of tokens available for claim by historical and future community members, the community treasury will have 39% of BLUR supply available to distribute to the community through contributor grants, community initiatives, and incentive programs. Of the 39%, 10% (300M BLUR) was allocated to the incentive budget for incentive release. If all of the incentive budgets is utilized, more can be allocated via governance vote. [\[10\]](#cite-id-xfivlx9gyvi)  
  
BLUR will vest to the community treasury on a continuous basis according to the following schedule:  
  
| Year | Community Treasure | Distribution % |  
| ---- | ------------------ | -------------- |  
| Year 1 | 468,000,000 BLUR | 40% |  
| Year 2 | 351,000,000 BLUR | 30% |  
| Year 3 | 234,000,000 BLUR | 20% |  
| Year 4 | 117,000,000 BLUR | 10% |  
  
Core contributors' and launch partners' BLUR allocations will have tokens vested on an identical schedule with the addition of a 4-month cliff for transfers. Advisors' BLUR allocation will vest over 48 to 60 months with a 4 to 16-month cliff. [\[10\]](#cite-id-xfivlx9gyvi)  
  
## Blur x DeGods  
  
On April 1st, 2023, [DeGods NFT](https://iq.wiki/wiki/degods) migrated to the [Ethereum](https://iq.wiki/wiki/ethereum) blockchain and partnered with the Blur marketplace. According to crypto analyst Sammy.ETH (@S4mmyEth), the partnership between Blur and DeGods has the potential to boost the adoption of NFTs. [\[31\]](#cite-id-tl9thwc6smf)[\[32\]](#cite-id-2snv9i8iss)[\[33\]](#cite-id-e62f0m35cy)  
  
> "Leveraging the DeGods appeal to onboard new participants (eventually) will be useful. Get them onto a superior platform to Opensea. A platform that involves its users, aligns incentives & has a decentralized focus. After all, volume is on Blur, but the # traders are low."[\[34\]](#cite-id-9rvp6k6ni6t)  
  
![image](https://ipfs.everipedia.org/ipfs/QmRsrw4x83aJ7bHstopeAnVE2AWd6TJa6WZZCPyJEKR16R)  
  
# Blur Features  
  
## Sweeps  
  
Blur is an aggregation service that provides tools for creators and collectors to purchase multiple [NFTs](https://iq.wiki/wiki/non-fungible-token-nft) from various projects at their floor price. This approach is commonly referred to as "sweeping" and is popular among pro-traders. [\[8\]](#cite-id-5wboesrmjeb)  
  
## Listing Options  
  
The Blur marketplace provides [NFT](https://iq.wiki/wiki/non-fungible-token-nft) analytics and portfolio options, such as floor price, trait floor price, and ladder list. It also enables integrated analytics portfolio management. [\[8\]](#cite-id-5wboesrmjeb)  
  
## Portfolio View  
  
Users of Blur marketplace can view portfolio activity of any wallet on the platform. Filtering by collection is available for any wallet trading on the platform, and all functions are accessible to traders at no cost. [\[8\]](#cite-id-5wboesrmjeb)  
  
# Blur Lending (BLEND)  
  
On the 1st of May, 2023, Blur Lending, aka Blend went live on the Blur platform. Blend launched with 3 collections at 3 different price points to start: [Punks](https://iq.wiki/wiki/cryptopunks), [Azukis](https://iq.wiki/wiki/azuki), and [Miladys](https://iq.wiki/wiki/milady-maker). [DeGods](https://iq.wiki/wiki/degods) was also added to Blend on May 9, 2023. [\[27\]](#cite-id-oztfnh760me)  
![image](https://ipfs.everipedia.org/ipfs/QmZF2A6n7EMWVrS8fFHvj3w3B81Q6GLasdzWqv32Pgidxe)With Blend, [NFT](https://iq.wiki/wiki/non-fungible-token-nft) holders can borrow ETH against their NFTs without needing to sell.[\[27\]](#cite-id-oztfnh760me)  
  
![image](https://ipfs.everipedia.org/ipfs/QmPiEiS8UXZeAnvPT5SrUttiAfWW526Ganj2oQeVfjbaYM)  
As of May 12, 2023, Blur Lending (Blend) has seen 60,541 ETH (more than $100M USD) in loan volume. [\[29\]](#cite-id-zqx8d5svfag)[\[30\]](#cite-id-b7dc77x4ctg)  
  
## Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL)  
  
The Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) system launched on Blur on 1, May 2023 allows for the purchasing of NFTs using borrowed funds, which will accrue interest based on predetermined loan terms once the funds have been borrowed. [\[26\]](#cite-id-yplhhcrm85i)  
  
Borrowers have the option to repay their loans in order to fully own the [NFT](https://iq.wiki/wiki/non-fungible-token-nft) or sell the NFT, and any profits earned after the loan balance is repaid will be retained by the borrower. In certain cases, borrowers may be called on to repay or refinance a loan by the lender. This can happen at any time, but it will most likely happen if the floor price of the NFT has fallen. When this happens, an automatic process will kick off to find a new lender for the loan at similar terms to the existing loan.  
  
If a new lender is not found within 6 hours the borrower will need to repay or refinance their loan within 24 hours. If a borrower does not want to repay the loan, they can refinance the loan with a new lender. This process happens automatically based on the available loan offer. [\[26\]](#cite-id-yplhhcrm85i)  
$$widget0 [YOUTUBE@VID](eKRcjkks6WI)$$

Date Founded

On April 1st, 2023, DeGods NFT migrated to the Ethereum blockchain and partnered with the Blur marketplace

Blur x DeGods

On the 1st of May, 2023, Blur Lending, aka Blend went live on the Blur platform

Blend Launch

LOGzbEmK9lA

spaces_rcUIPRjCB2CpDDqUN1Uh_uploads_FP8LN4cxuyzxWK73prX9_Genesis $Blur allocation.webp

EMgh8CgGRsbuxyIoC5u-Z.png

iV4LEmrzHF0_qTsJb6ens.jpg

image

eKRcjkks6WI

Blur is an NFT aggregator and marketplace designed to optimize trading experiences and provide tools for professional traders in the NFT ecosystem.

Timeline of Events

Blur

Date Founded

Blur x DeGods

Blend Launch

IQ

Company

Resources

Policies