The crypto landscape is shaped by builders who challenge assumptions and rethink incentives from first principles. In a recent episode of The Decentralised.co podcast, Joel and Saurabh sat down with Pacman, founder of both Blur and Blast, to explore his philosophy on product design, market dynamics, and the future of blockchain innovation.
This deep dive reveals how Pacman identified critical inefficiencies in NFT markets and Layer 2 ecosystems—and built solutions that align incentives with real economic value. From redefining user behavior to pioneering native yield in L2s, here’s a comprehensive look at his vision for the next phase of decentralized infrastructure.
Redefining the NFT Trader Experience
When Pacman entered the NFT space in 2021—after selling his first startup—he didn’t approach it as a collector. He was a trader. After flipping his first NFT, a Blitmap, for 25 ETH, he dove deep into trading mechanics, building scripts to analyze metadata and track rare traits.
What he found was deeply frustrating: slow interfaces, constant crashes, and fragmented tooling. As a trader, he needed dense, real-time data—rarity scores, bid history, floor movements—similar to what’s available on platforms like Coinbase for token trading.
But OpenSea, then dominating over 80% of the NFT market, felt more like Amazon than a financial exchange.
“They treated NFTs like products you buy and hold,” Pacman explained. “They built for shoppers, not traders.”
That fundamental misalignment became the catalyst for Blur—a marketplace designed explicitly for professional traders who move volume, not just sentiment.
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Why Blur Incentivizes Only One Thing: Liquidity
Most protocols launch with vague promises of future token drops, encouraging users to perform random actions in hopes of qualifying for an airdrop. This retroactive incentive model, Pacman argues, is economically flawed.
“You’re essentially paying users long after acquisition,” he said. “And because rules aren’t clear, they waste energy gaming the system.”
Blur took a different approach: a transparent points system tied solely to liquidity provision.
Unlike user count or transaction count—metrics easily gamed through Sybil attacks—liquidity is hard to fake. You can’t spin up 10,000 wallets and pretend each has $10K in bids. True liquidity requires capital at risk.
This design ensures that even farmers (users optimizing rewards) contribute meaningfully to the ecosystem. By focusing on one measurable, valuable behavior—providing bid depth—Blur avoids artificial inflation of vanity metrics while strengthening market efficiency.
It’s not just about fairness; it’s about sustainability. When incentives align with real utility, the network grows stronger without bloating costs.
The Birth of Blast: Solving Two Missing Pieces in L2s
While building Blur, Pacman and his co-founders began experimenting with Layer 2 solutions. But they noticed something missing across existing L2s:
- No native yield on deposited assets
- No direct value capture for developers via gas revenue
These weren't minor oversights—they represented massive inefficiencies.
Consider this: billions of dollars in TVL sit idle across L2s, earning zero interest. Meanwhile, developers building on these chains generate gas fees that flow entirely to validators or sequencers—not back to the apps creating demand.
Blast was created to fix both.
Native Yield: Turning Idle Capital Into Productive Assets
On Blast, ETH and stablecoins earn yield by default. Instead of sitting at 0%, deposited assets are automatically deployed into trusted yield-bearing protocols—similar to how sDAI earns ~7% in MakerDAO.
This transforms user behavior:
- Users keep funds longer because they earn passively.
- Apps benefit from higher retention and deeper liquidity.
- The entire ecosystem compounds growth through reinvested yields.
It’s a shift from “capital inefficient” to “capital optimizing”—a core upgrade for Web3 finance.
Developer Gas Rebates: Aligning Incentives at the Protocol Level
The second innovation is equally powerful: gas fee sharing with developers.
On most chains, developers have two choices:
- Launch on an established L2 and give up all gas revenue.
- Launch their own appchain and shoulder the burden of bootstrapping liquidity.
Blast offers a third path: build on Blast, earn yield on your app’s treasury, and collect a share of the gas fees your app generates.
This creates a direct feedback loop between usage and revenue—something rarely seen in crypto.
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Is This Cycle Different? A First-Principles View
Despite headlines around platforms like Pump.fun pulling in millions daily, Pacman remains skeptical about the depth of this cycle.
“Search interest for Ethereum peaked at 26 out of 100 this cycle,” he noted. “In 2021, it was 100. That’s a fourfold difference.”
While revenue exists—and some projects thrive—the broader cultural momentum is absent. There’s less mainstream attention, fewer new entrants, and crucially, no fundamental innovation driving adoption.
Past cycles were fueled by breakthroughs:
- 2017: ICOs democratized fundraising.
- 2020: DeFi enabled permissionless lending and trading.
- 2021: NFTs introduced digital ownership of art and identity.
This cycle? Mostly faster, cheaper versions of old ideas—better UX, lower fees—but nothing structurally new.
Pacman believes we’re still waiting for that foundational shift. When it comes—whether through scalable privacy, AI-integrated contracts, or widespread real-world asset tokenization—it will ignite the next major upswing.
Core Keywords
- Blur
- Blast
- liquidity incentives
- native yield
- Layer 2 (L2)
- developer revenue
- crypto market cycle
- decentralized marketplace
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes Blur different from OpenSea?
Blur is built specifically for professional NFT traders, offering advanced analytics, real-time data feeds, and a streamlined interface focused on speed and depth. Unlike OpenSea’s consumer-centric model, Blur prioritizes liquidity and efficiency through its points-based incentive system.
How does Blast generate yield for deposited assets?
Blast automatically deploys ETH and stablecoins into vetted yield-generating protocols (like Lido or Aave). This allows users and apps to earn passive returns without manual staking—creating a capital-efficient environment across the network.
Why is liquidity a better metric than user count for incentives?
Liquidity requires real capital commitment and cannot be easily faked with bots or Sybil attacks. User count can be inflated artificially, but meaningful bid depth directly improves market health and trader experience.
Can developers really profit from gas fees on Blast?
Yes. Blast allocates a portion of gas fees generated by an application back to its developers. This incentivizes high-quality app development and creates sustainable business models within the ecosystem.
Is the current crypto cycle overhyped?
According to Pacman, yes—relative to past cycles. While there are profitable niches (e.g., Meme tokens), overall engagement, search interest, and fundamental innovation remain below 2021 levels. True expansion awaits a structural breakthrough.
What defines a “fundamental innovation” in crypto?
It’s a technological or economic shift that opens new use cases at scale—like DeFi enabling trustless lending or NFTs enabling digital ownership. The current cycle lacks such a driver, relying instead on incremental improvements in speed and cost.
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