On Monday, NFT marketplace Blur announced plans to retire its frontend user interface next month, although its decentralized onchain protocol will stay active. The BLUR governance token will retain control over the protocol fee switch.
“Blend will stop matching new loans on November 12, 2026,” Blur stated in a post on X. “Borrowers have until then to repay their loans or allow them to default. After this date, we will provide a frontend tool to help users withdraw their assets from Blend.”
This disclosure follows recent news that the Ethereum Layer 2 Blast would wind down operations, which was subsequently accompanied by the Pudgy Penguins-backed Ethereum L2 Abstract also shutting down.
Blast was launched by Tieshun “Pacman” Roquerre, the founder of Blur, and built by the exact same core development team. Roquerre stated his objective of establishing the “Binance of NFTs” back in early 2023 when he revealed his identity. Blur’s minimal creator-royalty policy likewise accelerated competition amongst non-fungible token exchanges and strained creator earnings, including those belonging to Yuga Labs, creators of the Bored Ape Yacht Club.
Blur has faced criticism over its incentive-focused model for NFT exchange, which detractors argued promoted airdrop farming and alleged wash trading while undercutting creator royalties. Its ties to Blast also raised questions regarding the long-term viability of expansion plans centered around token rewards and liquidity incentives.
Blur’s monthly trading volume reached an all-time high of approximately $1.43 billion in March 2023; precisely three years later, monthly volume had dropped below $7 million, according to data from The Block.
Ethereum NFT marketplace monthly volume. Source: The Block/Token Terminal
The BLUR token dropped over 20% post-announcement to settle near $0.015, resulting in a market capitalization of roughly $44 million. During early 2023, the token traded above $5.
Originally published at https://www.theblock.co/news/ecosystems/2026-10-12-blur-nft-marketplace-shutting-down-frontend-blend-418363.
