A look at Blur’s new NFT lending protocol, Blend
Despite what many would probably describe as a “dry” NFT market lately, Blur (and marketplace competitors) aren’t hitting the brakes on building out new products and features.
Case and point this week comes courtesy of a new NFT lending protocol from the team at Blur called Blend. The new platform has quickly received mixed reviews (no pun intended) from the NFT community – with outspoken advocates and equally vocal detractors.
It was all a blur
The newest “kid on the block” in the NFT space was brought to market in partnership with venture capital player Paradigm back in November 2022, and has rapidly gained market share during a turbulent market over the last ~6 months.
The debatable market leader, OpenSea, has faced increased product pressure, and other competitors have also faced challenges. In fact, it was Blur’s move to aggressive market pricing of 0% trading fees that led OpenSea to do the same in recent months; meanwhile, competitors have had their own challenges: MagicEden has largely slowed in growth after expanding support beyond Solana, Rarible appears to be moving to a more white-label approach (evidenced by the firm’s work with toymaker Mattel in the last), and other NFT marketplaces have at least experienced a drying up market throughout. There is no easy path for marketplace operators in this space.
Regardless, Blur’s new peer-to-peer lending protocol Blend launched to kick off the month of May, and while it doesn’t make for a brand new product – it’s one that’s quickly garnered mixed reviews, especially considering Blur’s rapidly gaining influence in the space.
Blur's token looks to build a solid foundation as the NFT market has slowed in recent months. Can the platform's new lending tool, Blend, help reinvigorate the market? | Source: BLUR:USD on TradingView.com
Why brag about the mix
Blend opens the already open door to NFT lending, allowing owners of large dollar NFTs to use them as collateral. It’s the unique blend of NFTs and DeFi that many have talked about but haven’t hit the market on a large scale. Unlike many other smaller NFT lending platforms that we have seen on the market to date, Blend actually offers no expiration and, like Blur, no fees charged to borrowers or lenders.
So, what’s all the fuss about? Not everyone is a fan of Blur’s latest announcement, but critics’ reasoning varies. Some of them have cited concerns about price manipulation, others have cited money laundering and some believe that the benefits will mostly just be left to whales.
The bottom line at the moment is that no one really knows what the effects of Blend will really be. For those interested in learning more, you can read the full Blend whitepaper here.
