Blur Founder Fights Back Against NFT Market Crash

Key Points:

• NFT market is struggling, and fingers are pointed at Blur, a rival to OpenSea targeting savvy traders.
• Pacman, founder of Blur, defended the marketplace, saying that the market moves based on liquidity more than anything else.
• The floor price of popular NFT collections like Yuga Labs’ Bored Ape Yacht Club and Azuki has decreased significantly, causing concern among NFT whales and investors.

The founder of Blur, a marketplace rivaling OpenSea and catering to experienced traders, has come to the defense of the NFT market amid the prolonged slump in NFT prices.

Tieshun Roquerre, known as Pacman, responded to Twitter chatter about whether Blur is responsible for the decline of the market.

Pacman clarified that since its launch in October 22, the floor prices of some NFT collections have gone up, while others have gone down. He also pointed out that Blur injected liquidity into NFTs through their airdrop, which led to an increase in floor prices. On the other hand, $40 million of liquidity was removed via the Azuki mint, which caused a decrease in floor prices. Pacman also acknowledged that liquidity is the main factor that affects the market’s movement.

The NFT market has been experiencing a decline for over a year, particularly compared to the soaring prices in 2021. Even the premier collections have been affected by the decline. For instance, the floor price of Yuga Labs’ Bored Ape Yacht Club has decreased to 28 ETH (approximately $53,000), the lowest it has been in over 18 months, and less than half its value at the beginning of the year, according to NFT Price Floor data. Additionally, the floor price of Azuki, another popular collection, has plummeted after the mishap in the launch of a new set of NFTs by its creator, Chiru Labs.

Blur, the Paradigm-backed marketplace for pro traders, was blamed for the decline. Lior Messika, whose venture firm Eden Block is an investor in Yuga Labs, pointed out that NFT whales who had previously identified as “collectors” are now branding themselves as traders or even “Blur farmers,” which has distorted the space. Brad Kay also attributed a large part of the Azuki sell-off to Blur‘s lending platform.

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