Blur Token Hits Low as NFT Platform Announces Shutdown

Blur Token Hits Record Low Following Big Announcement

The native token of the Blur NFT marketplace, BLUR, plummeted to a brand new record low of $0.01267 on October 13. The steep price decline came immediately after the platform announced that it will shut down its official website interface on November 12, 2026.

According to data from BeInCrypto Markets, BLUR was trading at $0.01347 at press time. That reflects a massive 28.43% decrease over a 24-hour window. Despite the sharp drop in price, trading activity surged. The token recorded a 24-hour trading volume of $56.06 million as investors reacted to the news.

Past performance of digital assets is not a guarantee of future returns. You can view full market data and trade pairs on bitkub.com/th/market/BLUR.

Understanding the Shutdown: Front Door vs. Behind the Scenes

Blur announced its upcoming changes in an official post on X (formerly Twitter). To understand what is happening, it helps to distinguish between a website interface (the frontend) and smart contracts (the backend protocol).

Blur is only closing its website interface. Think of it like closing the glass doors of a store while keeping the self-service vending machine outside running. The core smart contracts will continue to exist permanently on the blockchain.

The Blur marketplace protocol will remain operational on-chain, and $BLURBLUR-0.62% will continue to control its fee switch.

Because the underlying code stays live on EthereumETH-5.05%, experienced users or third-party developers can still interact with the marketplace directly through code or custom user interfaces.

What Happens to Blend and NFT Lending?

Along with the marketplace website, Blur's peer-to-peer NFT lending protocol, Blend, is also making major adjustments.

Starting November 12, Blend will officially stop matching new loans. This leaves current borrowers with two main options before the deadline:

• Repay their existing loans fully to reclaim their NFT collateral.
• Allow their loans to default, which causes the collateralized NFT to transfer to the lender.

For users with active loans, taking action before November 12 is essential to avoid unintended default.

The Founder Connection: Tieshun 'Pacman' Roquerre and Blast L2

Blur was founded by Tieshun Roquerre, widely known in the crypto community as 'Pacman.' Interestingly, Blur is not the only project in Pacman's ecosystem undergoing a wind-down process.

Blast, an Ethereum Layer-2 scaling network also founded by Pacman, started its own wind-down process 10 days prior to Blur's announcement. Blast set a deadline of October 26 for its users to withdraw funds directly through its web interface.

This coordinated shift marks a broader strategic pivot across projects led by the founder.

Fading On-Chain Numbers: TVL and Fee Revenue Collapse

While the website closure announcement triggered the latest price drop, Blur's key financial metrics had already been declining for months.

According to tracking data from DefiLlama, Blur's Total Value Locked (TVL)—which measures the total capital deposited into the protocol—currently sits at $22.63 million. That is a sharp fall from its record peak of approximately $215.9 million recorded on March 9, 2024.

Revenue generated by platform fees shows an even steeper trajectory of decline over time:

• Q1 2023: Fees reached a peak of $25.58 million during the height of trading activity.
• Q1 2025: Fees fell dramatically down to $2.33 million.
• Q3 2026: Blur collected a total of just $0.51 in fees.
• Past 30 Days: The protocol recorded exactly $0 in fee revenue.

This drastic reduction in platform fees highlights a broader slowdown in professional NFT trading volume across the crypto industry.

Liquidity Drain: Bidding Pools and Collateral Shifts

The announcement caused an immediate withdrawal of capital as traders pulled liquidity out of the ecosystem between October 12 and October 13.

Wrapped Ethereum (WETH) locked inside Blur's bidding pool decreased from roughly 6,991 WETH down to 6,703 WETH in a single day.

Similarly, Blend's Total Value Locked dropped from $7.03 million to $5.69 million within the same 24-hour period.

High-profile 'blue-chip' NFTs used as collateral on Blend were pulled out rapidly. In total, about 160 blue-chip NFTs were removed from the lending contract. Specific collection movements included:

• Azuki NFTs held as collateral fell from 271 down to 229.
• Pudgy PenguinsPENGU-6.93% NFTs held as collateral fell from 289 down to 259.

What Lies Ahead for Traders and Token Holders?

The critical milestone to watch is November 12. That is the day Blend officially stops matching loans and Blur's main website frontend goes dark.

Market analysts note two main scenarios moving forward for BLUR token valuation:

• If community developers create alternative user interfaces and successfully utilize the remaining on-chain contracts, trading activity could stabilize over time.
• If liquidity continues migrating to competing marketplaces due to the loss of an official website, BLUR token demand may face persistent downward pressure.

Cryptocurrency markets remain highly volatile. Investors should carefully review underlying protocol metrics and assess market risks before making trading decisions.