Blur NFT Marketplace

Blur.io is one of (if not) the fastest real-time NFT aggregators in the Ethereum ecosystem and is the NFT marketplace for pro traders that will be majority owned by the community.

Blur is backed by renowned investors, Paradigm, 6529, Cozomo Medici, dhof, Bharat Krymo, Zeneca, OSF, MoonOverlord, icebergy, Deeze, Andy8052, and Keyboard Monkey. The company behind Blur raised $11M from these investors.

The NFT marketplace is also a strong proponent of creator royalties and offers enforced royalties on its platform. NFTs listed on Blur can also block zero royalty marketplaces. The entire ethos of the Blur ecosystem is towards “pro-NFT traders”, but allows for new entrants to level up quickly as they navigate its tools and features.

Blur marketplace was in a private development phase for 276 days before it was officially launched on October 19, 2022.

BLUR Airdrop:

• Airdrop 1: To celebrate the launch, Blur is airdropping Care Packages containing $BLUR tokens for everyone who’s stuck around in the bear market and traded NFTs in the last 6 months based on trading volume. Limited Time, Eligible users had 14 days to claim, counted from October 19, 2022!

• Airdrop 2: To get the Airdrop 2, users should List NFTs on Blur by November 2, 2022. Airdrop 2 will be much bigger than airdrop 1 so traders who are eligible will get significantly more Care Packages. This airdrop mechanism ensures that traders who actively use Blur will be the ones who get the most tokens and control of the protocol.

The marketplace however does not specify any explicit formula for Airdrop 2. This is to prevent bad actors from rigging the airdrop in their favor.  Below are a few tips to ensure users get the best out of Airdrop 2!

• List more: Blur NFT marketplace rewards users who stay loyal to their platform. The more NFTs you list, the more you earn in the airdrops.
• Blue Chips: Blur also states that listing Blue-Chip NFTs and NFTs from active collections will also gain you more points on the marketplace.
• No Rigging Allowed: Users can list by floor price, trait floor price, and ladder list. The marketplace is also conducting detailed investigations against users who try to rig the game. So listing your NFTs at unrealistic prices, listing dead collections, creating multiple fake accounts, etc. will not gain users any traction or points.
• Sweeping: The marketplace hints at even more rewards for members who try placing at least 3 sweeps on the platform before airdrop 2.
• Listing For Loyalty: Moreover, traders can also list on multiple marketplaces using Blur. This will improve their ‘Loyalty’ score on the platform. Although, Loyalty doesn’t affect how many Care Packages you receive, but it does affect the ‘luck’ during the time of reveal. More loyalty means more luck, meaning special rewards, super rare care packages, and perks!
• Raise Loyalty Score: Blur also allows you to control the price at which you list on the marketplace, and has certain rules that affect the loyalty score. Users listing their NFTs at higher rates on Blur compared to other marketplaces automatically receive lower loyalty points. Below are a few examples of how to list your NFTs to gain more loyalty points:
  • List for 0.1 ETH on Blur and 0.05 ETH on other marketplaces, score goes down.
  • List for 0.05 ETH on Blur and 0.1 ETH on other marketplaces, the score goes up.
  • List for 0.1 ETH on Blur and 0.1 ETH on other marketplaces, and the score goes up.
• Royalties: NFT owners have the right to set their own royalties on the platform. Listers who include royalties will get a larger airdrop than listers who don’t.

Methodology

In this dashboard, I am going to compare sales and traders’ activity on Blur vs other Ethereum NFT marketplaces. For a fair comparison, I am going to set this analysis’s time period from 19th October (Blur launch date) till today (8th December 2022) because before this date, there was no Blur!

For this purpose, I am going to mainly use Flipside’s ethereum.core.ez_nft_sales and filter data for each marketplace by grouping results by platform_name column. Moreover, Since there are different currencies for NFT sales on these marketplaces, I am going to use price_usd column in order to compare data by their $USD value.

Overall Stats

Based on the above chats, since the launch of Blur marketplace on 19th October, OpenSea (as the largest NFT marketplace in whole Cryptocurrency) has by far attracted the highest number of sales, number of unique buyers, number of unique sellers, number of traded tokens and collections and also generated the highest volume of sales and royalty fees.

In terms of number of sales, buyers, sellers, traded collections, and tokens, Blur is on the second rank after OpenSea which is a quite satisfying result for this newly launched NFT marketplace. But in terms of volume, we can see Blur is on the 4th rank after Opensea, X2Y2 and Looksrare marketplaces and higher than other markets such as Sudoswap & Rarible.

Larva Labs has by far the highest average sales volume because this platform is dedicated marketplace for Cryptopunks collection (one of the most expensive NFT collections on Ethereum).

The maximum sale volume (highest sale price) on Blur NFT marketplace is 342.075K USD.

Also, despite flexible royalty payments on NFT sales on Blur, we can see this marketplace has generated the second highest royalty fees (after Opensea) while its median and average generated royalty fees is not so high (median is 0!)

(two right charts are in logarithmic scale so the difference between numbers is more than what u see)

According to the left charts, despite Larva Labs (Cryptopunks marketplace), the majority of sales on most of the marketplace (including Blur) were done with $10 - $1000 volume.

We can also see almost high share of sales with less than $10 volume on Blur and this share is kinda more than share of these type of sales on some other marketplaces.

There are only 4313 sales (2.52% of total sales) on Blur that were done with more than $10000 volume.

On the left charts, since the launch of Blur marketplace, 83.1% of total NFT traders have traded NFT collections in other marketplaces than Blur.

5.26% of users have only traded on Blur marketplace (and not any other marketplace).

There are also 33.257 trader (11.6% of total traders) who have used Blur and also other marketplaces. So, this can be also called as “Blur Traders’ Crossover with Other Marketplaces”

Daily & Over-Time Stats

Similar to the overall stats that we have seen earlier, on the left charts, we can also see the average daily sales activity on OpenSea is more than other marketplaces.

Blur also here is on the second rank of number of sales and 4th rank of volume of sales after Opensea, X2Y2 and LooksRare.

On the above charts, firstly we can see the leading of Opensea in almost all terms and in all days over time. In terms of number of sales and buyers and sellers and traded tokens and collections, we can see Blur is on the second rank in all days after the Opensea marketplace meaning that this marketplace is performing satisfying in these terms over time. In terms of volume, we can see a close competition of Blur vs Looksrare and X2Y2 over time. on November the 2nd and 3rd, we can see highest spike of NFT sales volume on on Blur marketplace and this can be because of users who wanted to perform more and more activity to become eligible to receive 2nd blur airdrop. The average sale volume of NFTs on Larva Labs is by far the highest number in all days and as said before, because this market is the dedicate marketplace for Cryptopunks NFT collection. In terms of royalty fees, we can see Opensea has by far the highest share in all days and in some days we can see some high spikes of Blur marketplace but very low compared to the Opensea spikes. In terms of number of new first-time users, we can see Blur is performing really good to the extent that in some days especially during early-December, Blur's new users has totally overtaken Opensea in this terms.

Also, during the days of FTX & Alameda Collapse (8th November) we can see least activity of NFT sales in almost all marketplaces.

Purchasers Stats

According to the left charts, an average Opensea purchaser is more active than other markets’ purchasers in terms of number of sales and also traded collections and tokens.

Blur purchasers are on the second rank in all terms and this is really satisfying.

An average Larva Labs purchasers has spent way more volume than other marketplaces’ average purchasers and Blur is on the 4th rank after X2Y2 and Looksrare markets and higher than Opensea!

The above charts indicates the high activity of Blur purchasers compared to the other markets. As we see, the share of purchasers with more than 1 number of trades on marketplace on Blur is more than other platforms.

Also, we can see the share of purchasers on this marketplace that have traded more than 1 collection is also more than other marketplaces’ purchasers !

In terms of volume, we can see the majority of Blur purchasers have totally spent $10 - $1000 volume for buying tokens, almost similar to the other marketplaces’ purchasers.

On the above charts, we can see the top 10 Blur purchasers in different terms.

The wallet address 0x729cfa0f61946c8a558da84103f332d310a9d26a has performed the most number of purchase transactions (419) till today.

The wallet address 0x491befac53aac201e97cd6f4c750e4a958d22d46 has traded the most number of collections (126).

And the wallet address 0xed2ab4948ba6a909a7751dec4f34f303eb8c7236 has by far spent the most volume (almost 4M USD) for purchasing tokens on this marketplace.

Sellers Stats

On the left charts, we can see NFTX sellers are more active than other marketplaces’ sellers but the average sale volume of Larva Labs sellers is still way more than other platforms.

Blur is on the 3rd rank after NFTX & Opensea in terms of average number of sales and traded collections and tokens per seller.

But in terms of volume, we can see Blur is on the 5th rank after Larva labs, Looksrare, NFTX & X2Y2.

Totally, Blur sellers are more active than its buyers in terms of number of trades but buyers have purchased more tokens (more than sold tokens by an average seller).

According to the above charts, the most number of sellers in almost all marketplaces have totally done only 1 sale transactions and sold only 1 collection.

on Blur, 47% of sellers have done 1 trade and 37% of them have done 2-5 sale transactions. 63% of sellers have sold only 1 collection and almost other 37% of sellers have traded more than 1 collection.

The majority of sellers in all marketplaces except Larva Labs have totaly gained $10 - $1000 USD from selling NFTs on these platforms.

On the above charts, we can see the wallet address 0x3a8713065e4daa9603b91ef35d6a8336ef7b26c6 is the most active seller on Blur marketplace with total 540 sale transactions.

the wallet address 0xc4c6c27b2259794a1dd35d438e703281c0e4a004 has sold the most number of collections (101).

The wallet address 0xed2ab4948ba6a909a7751dec4f34f303eb8c7236 which was also the most valuable buyer is also the seller with the most gained volume from selling tokens on Blur marketplace. Interesting!

On the left chart, I have extracted the top 10 NFT trader on Blur marketplace that have gained the most net profit from trading tokens (buying and selling) on this platform.

As we see, the wallet address 0xf8c9cf133252a1a0b2c4b527381eaa94eaef62a6 can be called as the most professional trader on Blur because he/she has earned the most net profit (1.3812M USD) from trading tokens on Blur.

Top Collections

On the above charts, we can see the top 10 NFT collections of Blur marketplace in 6 different terms.

As we see, in terms of number of sales, number of buyers and sellers and also number of traded tokens, Keepers (KPR) is the most popular collection on Blur marketplace.

But in terms of total volume of sales and also total generated royalty fee, we can see Art Gobblers is on the first rank.

On the above charts, I have extracted the top 10 tokens (and their related collection) in 6 different terms.

As we see, the token ID #5979 from the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) project is by far the most expensive sold token on Blur marketplace with 342k USD price.

The token ID #54662 from The OtherSide collection is the most popular traded token on Blur marketplace that have attracted the most number of sales, active buyers and also sellers on Blur.

The token ID #93056 from the OtherSide collection has generated the highest total sale volume on Blur.

And the tokend ID #780 from Art Gobblers collection have generated the highest royalty fee on this marketplace.

Airdrop Seekers

As mentioned above, there are currently 2 airdrops for Blur. The first one was for everyone who has traded NFTs during the past 6 months and based on their volume.

• Airdrop 2: To get the Airdrop 2, users should List NFTs on Blur during November 2022. Airdrop 2 will be much bigger than airdrop 1 so traders who are eligible will get significantly more Care Packages. This airdrop mechanism ensures that traders who actively use Blur will be the ones who get the most tokens and control of the protocol.

The marketplace however does not specify any explicit formula for Airdrop 2. This is to prevent bad actors from rigging the airdrop in their favor.  Below are a few tips to ensure users get the best out of Airdrop 2!

• List more: Blur NFT marketplace rewards users who stay loyal to their platform. The more NFTs you list, the more you earn in the airdrops.
• Blue Chips: Blur also states that listing Blue-Chip NFTs and NFTs from active collections will also gain you more points on the marketplace.
• No Rigging Allowed: Users can list by floor price, trait floor price, and ladder list. The marketplace is also conducting detailed investigations against users who try to rig the game. So listing your NFTs at unrealistic prices, listing dead collections, creating multiple fake accounts, etc. will not gain users any traction or points.
• Sweeping: The marketplace hints at even more rewards for members who try placing at least 3 sweeps on the platform before airdrop 2.
• Listing For Loyalty: Moreover, traders can also list on multiple marketplaces using Blur. This will improve their ‘Loyalty’ score on the platform. Although, Loyalty doesn’t affect how many Care Packages you receive, but it does affect the ‘luck’ during the time of reveal. More loyalty means more luck, meaning special rewards, super rare care packages, and perks!
• Raise Loyalty Score: Blur also allows you to control the price at which you list on the marketplace, and has certain rules that affect the loyalty score. Users listing their NFTs at higher rates on Blur compared to other marketplaces automatically receive lower loyalty points. Below are a few examples of how to list your NFTs to gain more loyalty points:
  • List for 0.1 ETH on Blur and 0.05 ETH on other marketplaces, score goes down.
  • List for 0.05 ETH on Blur and 0.1 ETH on other marketplaces, the score goes up.
  • List for 0.1 ETH on Blur and 0.1 ETH on other marketplaces, and the score goes up.
• Royalties: NFT owners have the right to set their own royalties on the platform. Listers who include royalties will get a larger airdrop than listers who don’t.

For this part, I am firstly going to analyse sales activity on Blur during the past month to see if there is any high spikes of sale during early-November (the date when users had to start listing and performing activity on Blur to get more scores and be eligible for receiving Airdrop).

Then, Based on the above factors, I am going to group NFT traders by their chance of getting high scores for receiving the higher value of Airdrops (care packages) based on their luck.

Wash Trades

Wash trading refers to an illegal activity in which a single trader buys and sells the same asset in order to generate misleading market information. Wash trading is often performed to artificially inflate the trading volume of an asset or marketplace.

NFT Wash Trading

an NFT wash trader would buy and sell their own NFT so that it will show inflated volume and interest and possibly a price increase. (The wash trader controls both the buy and sell prices, so they can buy it at a higher price from themselves) This behavior can be repeated over and over. As a result, outsiders seeing this increased activity might consider buying the NFT at an inflated price. Once the NFT is sold to an outsider, the NFT creator pockets the difference.

The Commodity Exchange Act prohibits wash trading. Prior to its passage, traders commonly used wash trading to manipulate markets and stock prices. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) also enforces regulations regarding wash trading, including guidelines that bar brokers from profiting as a result of wash trading activity.

In this part, I have compared Wash trading activity on Blur and other Ethereum NFT marketplaces.

For this, Firstly I am going to define Wash Trading in my own way. In my opinion, there are 2 ways to wash trade in NFT marketplaces:

1- Point Of Sale (POS): Trader 1 sells an NFT to Trader 2 and then the same NFT is sold again from Trader 2 to Trader 1.

2- Transfer Back (didn’t find any better name!): Trader 1 sells an NFT to Trader 2 but after a while, Trader 2 sends back Trader 1’s money (SOL) to him via regular Transfer.

P.S: Totally, wash trades on Solana due to the high activity of bots is way more than Ethereum.

(#Credit to pinehearst)

Based on the left charts and with considering the above defination of Wash Trading, We can see Blur marketplace has quite low activity of wash trading in both terms of number and volume of trades.

X2Y2 and Looksrare and Rarible has the highest % share of Wash trades.

On the above chart, I have extracted the users who have traded NFTs from top 100 most active collections on Blur (as it was mentioned on the airdrop condition to trade more active projects) during the November and classified them by their number of sales and also paid royalty fees (as mentioned in the conditions, the higher royalty fees and the higher number of sales = the higher score).

In my opinion, users who have sold more than 3 times and also with royalty fees (#1) has the higher chance of recieiving airdrops with higher quality and the majority of users (#8) who have sold only once and also without any royalty fee, has the least luck.

Summary and Conclusion

Based on the above analysis:

• Blur marketplace have performed really well compared to the other top-rated Ethereum NFT marketplaces and is growing well in various terms

• We have seen that after the launch of Blur on 19th October, This marketplace is on the second rank in terms of sales activity after OpenSea which is quite satisfying result for this platform.

• Also in terms of total volume of sales, Blur is on the 4th rank after major marketplaces such as Opensea, Looksrare and X2Y2 and generated higher volume than other famous platforms such as Sudoswap and Rarible.

• The highest sale activity on Blur marketplace (especially in terms of sale volume and generated royalty fees) has achieved mainly on November 2022 and this can be mainly because users wanted to be eligible and earn more scores for getting higher value of airdrop #2.

• KPR is by far the most popular NFT collection on Blur in terms of number of sales and Art Gobblers has generated the highest sale volume and also royalty fees on Blur.

• We have also seen the high popularity of Major NFT collections such as Bored Ape Yacht Club, OtherSide, Azuki & … on this marketplace which shows that its traders tend to trade these popular NFTs more than other collections.

• The wallet address 0xed2ab4948ba6a909a7751dec4f34f303eb8c7236 has by far gained the most volume from selling tokens and also spent the most volume for buying tokens on Blur marketplace.

• Totally, OpenSea dominates the NFT marketplace in all terms and It also represents nearly 60% of the total ETH volume per month. That is a very dominant market position that will prove tricky to disrupt. Even so, if Blur can sustain its growth, the competition will continue to heat up.

• So, we can say The Blur platform has mainly motivated its users by 2 incentives to further enhance its adoption rate which is critical in web3 where a lack of instant usage correlates to a project that is suddenly dying out.

  1. **Airdrops:**The Blur marketplace is using 2 forms of airdrops to stir activity on their marketplace to reward early adopters of the platform. The first airdrop is given to anyone that lists at least one NFT on the marketplace during the last two weeks of October. By doing so, users are rewarded with five care packages that rank in rarity and will be opened in January 2023. \n The second airdrop will be given out to users that begin listing their NFTs in November which gives more time to their adoption rate. This second round of airdrops will be determined by the number of listings each user executes on Blur and will reward them with Blur’s upcoming native tokens.
  2. **Honoring Royalties:**Another important incentive for users is Blur’s commitment to NFT royalty structures which are a unique feature of NFT technology that bridges the relationship between buyers and creators. \n Recently, many projects have attempted to avoid paying these fees in an effort to promote pure profits to the buyers and sellers which goes against one of the appeals that artists see in NFTs. \n Without these artists, there will be fewer collections to buy from in the future which can hinder the growth of Blur, so it is important for them to support artists.

Discord: Ali3N#8546 Twitter: Alik_110 Tweet Link For This Dashboard:

External Sources:

https://nftnewstoday.com/2022/10/27/an-introduction-to-the-new-nft-marketplace-blur/#:\~:text=Blur is a new NFT,%2411M from these investors.

https://nftevening.com/blur-airdrop-2-is-scheduled-for-monday-is-free-money-season-back

Top Tokens

Bored Ape Yacht Club #5979, the most expensive traded token on Blur

And on the above charts, we can see the daily number and volume of wash trades on these marketplaces over time.

As we see, the total volume and number of wash trades on OpenSea, Looksrare and X2Y2 is more than other marketplaces and Blur has experienced the highest wash trades during early-December 2022 especially in terms of numbers.

But totally, Blur has low wash trading activity compared to the other marketplaces.

On the above charts, I have analyzed the activity of sales and traders on Blur marketplace over time since its debut with highlighting the days that users were able to collect score for the Airdrop #2.

with comparing these highlighted days and other regular days, we can kinda see high activity of sales (especially in terms of volume and average volume and also generated royalty fees) during this timespan.

So, we can conclude that during these days, users were trying to take advantage of the airdrop system (based on the above mentioned conditions and tips)