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Blur is shutting down its website, so why are NFT collectors cheering?
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Blur, the nonfungible token marketplace that once overtook OpenSea as the largest NFT trading venue by volume, has announced it will shut down its website on Nov. 12. The company said in a Monday post on X—its first in more than a year—that its onchain marketplace will remain operational. Blend, its peer-to-peer perpetual NFT lending protocol, will stop matching new loans. Borrowers have until Nov. 12 to repay outstanding loans or let them default, and Blur promised a withdrawal interface after the shutdown.
The announcement revived criticism of the strategy that powered Blur's rise in 2023: optional creator royalties and token rewards that encouraged traders to bid and flip NFTs. Blur launched on Oct. 19, 2022, allowing sellers to customize royalty payments while offering larger prospective token rewards to those who paid higher creator royalties. It entered a market where royalty protections were already weakening; rival Magic Eden had moved to optional royalties the previous week.
By July 2023, blockchain analytics platform Nansen reported that effective creator royalty fees had fallen to 0.6% from an average of 2.5% in 2022. Nansen attributed much of that decline to Blur's growth, its minimum royalty policy, and OpenSea lowering its own royalty requirements to compete. The shift marked a major blow to creators who relied on resale royalties for income.
Some NFT collectors celebrated the closure. "Good riddance. You destroyed NFTs. Please shut down and never come back," NFT collector Cryptobscure replied on X. "You may not have been able to complete your mission to destroy NFTs. But you acted with extreme determination and tried everything. Congratulations to us for surviving you," collector starfruit wrote. The reactions underscored how divisive Blur's royalty model remains.
Blur did not disclose why it decided to shutter its frontend and wind down new lending activity on Blend. The move comes as NFT trading remains far below boom-era levels. CryptoSlam data shows total NFT sales in September were $167 million across 2.9 million transactions, compared with a January 2022 peak of $6 billion over 13.7 million transactions.
Other NFT platforms have also retreated. Gemini-owned Nifty Gateway and social collecting platform Rodeo announced plans to wind down in January, while Foundation announced its closure in April after a sale intended to keep it operating fell through. Binance also ended NFT support on its exchange, shifting asset management to Binance Wallet.
Cointelegraph reached out to Blur founder Tieshun "Pacman" Roquerre for comment. The company has not publicly explained why it is shutting the frontend or winding down Blend's new lending. For now, Blur's onchain marketplace will continue running even as its website goes dark, leaving traders and borrowers to adapt to a smaller, more uncertain NFT landscape.
