Bankless: In addition to airdrops, how did Blur subvert OpenSea?

BLUR, the new governance token of NFT marketplace Blur, is finally here.

The highly anticipated airdrop gave back to the community and users, and the high enthusiasm of claimers caused gas fees to soar. So, what other tricks does this team have? How can Blur subvert OpenSea in the competition? Let’s explore further today.

Anticipation for the airdrop, which was tallied in three gamified phases that rewarded traders, listers, and bidders, has significantly increased Blur’s visibility and helped it become a true competitor to long-time NFT market leader OpenSea.

However, airdrops alone cannot compete with OpenSea. The hype and momentum brought by airdrops are temporary and will not last longer.

Take NFT marketplaces LooksRare and X2Y2 , both of which launched incentives using LOOKS and X2Y2 tokens early last year. As you can see in the price comparison chart below, both tokens initially gained popularity when they launched, but have since seen their prices drop significantly. Over time, both have failed to capture significant market share from OpenSea. Sure, their projects are still evolving, so to speak, and their narratives are still a work in progress, but they are clearly not as exciting or enticing as they once were.

So Blur’s launch of BLUR is a strategy to achieve decentralized governance coordination, a ploy to grab market share from OpenSea and other competitors. However, much of the latter tactical effect is likely to be temporary and will be released early when BLUR launches, at least if other early NFT market tokens are any indication.

So the good news for Blur? It does have a compelling basic UX product, which does make it a legitimate challenger to OpenSea, beyond token economics and word of mouth.

For example, Blur aggregates NFT listings from all major NFT markets, including Seaport Protocol from OpenSea, so that Blur is no longer restricted by OpenSea’s market blacklist. In contrast, OpenSea currently only aggregates listings for projects built on Seaport, such as ENS Vision and Sound.

Additionally, Blur has doubled down on speed since day one to differentiate itself from the competition with real-time listings and instant NFT metadata display. According to Blur, its marketplace is roughly 10 times faster and nearly 20% more gas efficient than Gem, OpenSea’s NFT aggregator for veteran traders.

Wide selection, impressive speed, and smooth user experience — these are the pillars on which Blur aims to gain a foothold and gain more market share. But the question is, over time, will these pillars, along with the launch of BLUR, be enough to truly overtake OpenSea?

This is the trillion gwei question, and right now the simple answer is no.

To be sure, Blur has more work to do if it wants to take a decisive lead where OpenSea already dominates.

Launched in December 2017, the visionary OpenSea has been at the forefront for many years and has become a dominant force in the NFT ecosystem, accumulating unparalleled depth of experience and resources in its development.

Where OpenSea is currently on par is in NFT trading volume levels, as Blur has been running neck and neck with the incumbent giants for weeks.

This characterization is quite impressive given OpenSea’s first-mover advantage, but it was also largely driven by the anticipation and hype of BLUR, whose tactical effects we’ve already noted will ultimately be temporary.

If Blur is to truly continue and win the NFT market war, it will need to continue to meaningfully advance and build upon its UX pillars and BLUR launches. This is easier said than done, so what’s a rising star to do?

In my opinion, in order to become the next NFT market champion, Blur needs to have the following five things:

1. Maintain exclusive advantages

Blur’s speed advantage is real, its gas efficiency is very high, and its gas-less bidding system is very flexible. Of course, these are the “moats” that Blur’s unique position currently stands for.

However, as long as they are unique to Blur, these moats are very useful. If other competitors catch up in these areas (which is possible), then Blur's image will start to fade into the background.

Blur needs to stay faster, more efficient, and more agile if it wants to win. Again, this is easier said than done, and there isn’t necessarily an instant answer here, but regardless: the moat must be defended.

That said, about 65% of Blur's early users came from OpenSea and Gem, so if Blur can secure its moat, it could potentially keep those users forever. As a loyal Gem user, I can now say that I find the user experience of Blur and Gem to be fairly well matched - there are things about Blur that I like more, and there are things about Gem that I like more, and I really like them. Winning over super users is really the most important card in these fierce competitions.

2. Retention Rewards

…flow, that’s it.

Blur’s gamified airdrops have been an influential strategy that has so far helped the marketplace keep pace with OpenSea in terms of NFT trading volume levels.

Call it a tactical win, then, but Blur needs to keep getting more tactical wins to succeed, even if the effect is only temporary each time. Blur seems to have taken this lesson to heart. Since the airdrop, they have launched a "Season 2" BLUR reward, which will double all bids and listing points on the market for the next month. The seasonal approach makes sense here.

3. Advancement plan

Blur must continue to evolve and innovate if it wants to keep improving. Whatever the reason, stagnating in front of the defending champion OpenSea will undoubtedly make Blur lose its window of opportunity.

As a contributor to Bankless and JPG, I’ve seen firsthand how NFT teams work behind the scenes, so I can safely assume that the Blur team has its own roadmap of new ideas, new integrations, and new launches, and its new features are gradually being polished.

For example, perhaps Blur could eventually try to outdo OpenSea by integrating an optimized professional trading UX on all top L2 chains. We’ll see. But it’s ultimately up to the Blur team to prioritize what they think is best and execute and innovate around those initiatives in a proficient manner.

4. Keep fighting spirit

Blur is undoubtedly at a disadvantage in this competition. OpenSea's capabilities, resources, and active users are enormous.

If the Blur team doesn’t overcome all the odds, they won’t be able to beat OpenSea. Sometimes the underdog wins, and sometimes it’s the indomitable fighting spirit and the desire to “we will win” that makes the difference over time against entrenched incumbents.

Every time I've won a chess match against a much higher rated player it was because I went into the match fighting like hell and focusing really hard on every turn. If the Blur team can maintain a similar hunger they may just be able to pull off a David-and-Goliath victory.

5. Pray for no SEA tokens

Or pray there is no SEA token.

I mean, success depends on the competition. In other words, Blur can maintain liquidity of its BLUR rewards and continue to launch cool features one after another, but will still be defeated by OpenSea in the end.

In fact, many people thought it was a foregone conclusion that OpenSea would never launch its own token. This may well be the case. But imagine if they did airdrop SEA to past users? This would be a landmark move that could further solidify OpenSea’s dominance for years to come.

After all, wouldn’t one way for OpenSea to beat Blur be to “fight fire with fire” on all four of the above points? Cannibalize Blur’s UX moat, launch its own rewards, and advance its own initiatives and ambitions? Even so, over time, OpenSea may not ultimately need the SEA token to beat Blur.

So for the Blur team, it might not just be about getting everything right. It might also be like chess, being able to execute their plan while also hoping that OpenSea makes the wrong decision or makes an irreversible mistake.