NFT Marketplace Blur Shuts Down

Blur , once the largest marketplace for Ethereum non-fungible tokens (NFTs), is shutting down due to a collapse in its trading volumes.

In a statement, Blur said that it is shutting down its website next month after trading activity collapsed more than 99% from its peak.

Blur’s website will go dark on Nov. 12 of this year, while its NFT lending service, called Blend, will stop arranging new loans on the same date.

The company’s smart contracts will remain operational on the Ethereum blockchain, meaning the shutdown does not eliminate the blockchain-based trading system.

Blur is the second NFT marketplace to close in recent weeks. On Oct. 2, another marketplace called Blast announced that it is calling it quits due to weak trading volumes.

Often called digital art, NFTs are unique cryptographic tokens stored on a blockchain that serve as a permanent record of ownership and authenticity.

NFTs are often artwork or other collectibles such as digital baseball cards. The market for NFTs peaked in 2022 at $6 billion U.S. in monthly sales. Since then, the market has collapsed.

Launched in 2022, Blur challenged market leader OpenSea by offering professional traders’ faster transactions, lower fees, and token rewards.

The strategy helped Blur capture more than 70% of Ethereum NFT trading volumes in early 2023, when monthly activity on the platform reached $1.43 billion U.S.

By March of this year, monthly trading volumes had fallen below $7 million U.S., a decline of 99.5%.

The BLUR crypto token fell more than 20% following the announcement that the NFT marketplace is shutting down. The token currently trades at $0.015 U.S.