Blur Ends NFT Marketplace After Trading Volume Falls Over 99%
Blur ends operations as trading activity collapses
Blur, once the largest marketplace for trading NFTs (non-fungible tokens on the Ethereum blockchain), announced Monday that it will close its website on November 12. Monthly trading on the platform has fallen by more than 99.5% since its peak in 2023.
The shutdown comes ten days after Blast, another Ethereum scaling network also built by the same team, announced it would be shutting down.
Key numbers from the shutdown
- Monthly trading volume peaked at roughly $1.43 billion in March 2023 and dropped below $7 million by March 2026.
- Blur recorded zero protocol revenue over three years despite handling billions in NFT trades.
- Borrowers on Blur's lending service, Blend, have until November 12 to repay loans or let them default.
- The BLUR token fell more than 20% after the announcement.
What Blur announced on Monday
The marketplace said its website will close on November 12 and its NFT lending service Blend will stop arranging new loans. Borrowers can repay their loans or allow them to default before that date. After closure, Blur plans to provide a separate tool for withdrawing assets from Blend.
Blur's underlying smart contracts will stay operational on Ethereum, meaning the blockchain-based trading system will not be eliminated entirely. BLUR tokenholders will retain control of the platform's fee switch, a voting mechanism that determines whether the marketplace begins charging trading fees.
Second retreat in ten days from the same team
Both Blur and Blast were created by crypto entrepreneur Tieshun Roquerre, better known by the pseudonym Pacman. Blast, an Ethereum scaling network, once attracted more than $2 billion in assets through deposit rewards but had fallen to approximately $32 million when developers announced its closure on October 2. The team said the network cost more to operate than it generated in revenue.
From market leader to zero revenue
Blur launched in 2022 to challenge then-leader OpenSea, offering professional traders faster transactions and token rewards. By March 2023, it had captured more than 70% of Ethereum NFT trading volume, according to DefiLlama data.
However, the platform charged traders no transaction fees. Token Terminal records show $0 in protocol revenue over the past three years despite billions of dollars in NFT trades. It is unclear from available data whether Blur earned income from its lending service or any other activities.
Sources
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