Blast founder Pacman says why current crypto cycle hasn't played out like previous cycles
Quick Take
- Blast founder Pacman said the current crypto cycle hasn’t seen the sort of fundamental technology change that usually sparks a new wave of adoption.
- Pacman also teased that Blur NFT marketplace is working on its ‘biggest project’ yet.
Blast founder Tieshun Roquerre, also known as Pacman, said this crypto cycle hasn’t had any new fundamental innovation to lead a new wave of adoption.
“A lot of this cycle has been driven by ETFs, by pressure, so this cycle hasn’t really played out like [previous] cycles, because it hasn’t really been a real cycle in the sense of fundamental technology changes,” Pacman said during a virtual Q&A session at Monday's Foresight 2024 event in Hong Kong.
Industry-shifting changes in previous cycles include initial coin offerings, the launch of Uniswap and the invention of NFTs, Pacman said. He added that these “real cycles” often spearhead a fresh rotation of capital around major cryptocurrencies and new asset classes such as NFTs.
For the struggling NFT market to find new adoption, someone would need to create a “twist” on existing NFTs, he said — similar to how NFTs put a twist on fungible tokens.
Meanwhile, Pacman said Blur, the NFT marketplace that he launched in 2022, is preparing for its “biggest project” in history. He said he would hold off on providing more details until the project is closer to launch date.
Ethereum Layer 2 network Blast, which launched in early access mode in November 2023, currently has a total value locked of $840.3 million, lower than its June 6 peak of $2.3 billion, according to DeFiLlama data. Blur’s TVL currently stands at $65.26 million. Following its June airdrop, it has faced criticism of not supporting its native projects, with its memecoin Pacmoon in the process of departing Blast for the Solana blockchain.
Disclaimer: Larry Cermak, CEO of The Block, is an angel investor in Blast.
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