30 years east of the river, 30 years west of the river—that’s life. One year east, one year west—that’s crypto. Blast, the project that blew up two years ago, has officially announced its shutdown. I still remember when the mainnet launched in 2024, the Blast bridge had over $2.3 billion locked. Native rewards, Points, invite-only access, airdrop hype, and the halo effect of Blur founder Pacman—it was like money was pouring in like crazy. Back then, the chain wasn’t even live yet, but users were willing to lock up their ETH for months just to earn Points. Two years later, Blast is shutting down. The revenue from its L2 can no longer sustain the chain. At its peak, Blast was pulling in over $3 million in monthly transaction fees. By September 2026, the entire chain’s monthly revenue had dropped to just about $1,800. DeFi TVL plummeted from $2.2 billion to around $32 million—a nearly 99% drop. Points stopped, the airdrop happened, the farmers left, and the real users who stayed couldn’t support an L2 on their own. Here’s a quick recap of Blast’s three-year journey: - November 2023: Blast was officially announced. Even before the mainnet launched, deposits were opened—funds could go in but not out. With Points, invite codes, and airdrop hype, they pulled in about $300 million in just a few days. - Back then, even Paradigm publicly criticized this “lock funds first, launch later” approach. - February 2024: Mainnet launched, and bridge funds exceeded $2.3 billion. - March: An insider at Munchables managed to siphon off $62.5 million, but the funds were eventually recovered. - June: The first BLAST airdrop went live, distributing 17% of the tokens. This marked the beginning of the slow withdrawal of funds. - Late 2024 to 2025: The Points mining craze faded, and metrics like users, transaction volume, fees, and TVL all declined. The hype-driven prosperity built on airdrop expectations ultimately failed to translate into real usage demand. - October 2, 2026: Blast announced its shutdown.