The ecological "flag bearer" Fantasy.top has left, what happened to Blast?

Author: KarenZ, Foresight News

On July 15th, 2023, at midnight Beijing time, the Blast ecosystem decentralized card game Fantasy.top announced that it will migrate to the Base ecosystem and will support users in migrating their assets to the Base network.

As soon as the news broke, the community's reaction was not one of regret, but rather a sense of "finally"—as if the ending that had long been written was turned to the last page.

Fantasy.top: The "Flagbearer" of the Blast ecosystem

Fantasy.top is a decentralized social card game based on the Blast network. It attracts a large number of users by transforming the social media performance of KOLs in the crypto space into NFT cards, combined with gamification mechanisms. Since its mainnet launch on May 1, 2024, Fantasy.top has quickly become a star project in the Blast ecosystem.

According to DeFiLlama statistics, in the past 24 hours, Fantasy.top contributed 83% of the protocol revenue for the Blast ecosystem (approximately $10,566); it accounted for 78% in the past week and 56% in the past month. Additionally, according to Nansen data, in the past 6 months, Fantasy.top is the third highest application in terms of user transaction volume on the Blast network.

The existence of Fantasy.top is an important pillar for maintaining the "activity level" of the Blast ecosystem. Now that it has migrated, it undoubtedly adds insult to injury to the already quiet Blast.

Not just Fantasy.top: The "exodus trend" of the Blast ecosystem

In fact, Fantasy.top is not the first project to escape from Blast. From the overall data and numerous cases of departures, we can clearly see the loss of projects and users within the Blast ecosystem, as well as the trend of Blast heading towards decline.

In terms of data, according to DeFiLlama, the total locked value of the Blast ecosystem DeFi is currently only 87 million USD, a drop of over 95% from its peak of 2.2 billion USD. Additionally, according to Nansen data, the daily active addresses on the Blast network exceeded 180,000 at the end of June 2024, but have since sharply declined, maintaining only between 2,000 and 5,000 in recent months. Furthermore, the daily contract deployment has dropped to double digits or just over a hundred, and the number of token deployments has even fallen to single digits, indicating a decline in developer enthusiasm.

Source: Nansen

Typical Project Migration Case

• pump.fun: Launched on Solana in January 2024, it later launched on Blast over a month later but did not receive much attention, and a few months later ceased operations on Blast.
• Lottery application Megapot (gambling application, please do not use) will also migrate from Blast to Base ecosystem starting March 2025.
• Ethos Network: Originally planned to launch on Blast, it ultimately chose to start directly on Base. Ethos Network is currently a popular reputation protocol within the Base ecosystem.

Blast BIG BANG Award-winning Project Baseline: will also migrate to the Base ecosystem in the later stage.

These cases point to a common conclusion: Blast is facing severe challenges in attracting and retaining projects. Although it was once highly anticipated as a "native yield-bearing Ethereum Layer2," its ecological development has clearly failed to deliver on early promises.

Blast ecosystem recent turmoil

Recently, negative signals or turmoil surrounding the Blast ecosystem have further intensified market concerns about it:

In May 2025, Blast announced that it would not renew its service agreement with Safe, but it would support access to multi-signature wallets through the BrahmaFi front end or self-hosted front end. Pacman explained that there are many reasons for this, one of which is that there are already many alternative solutions that support Blast. However, this decision has been interpreted by outsiders as a contraction of the ecological infrastructure.

In the following month, the Blast ecosystem DEX Thruster announced its decision to gradually cease operations of Thruster. The official explanation from Thruster stated that this was the result of a comprehensive assessment of Thruster's current situation, expectations, surrounding ecosystem, and future prospects. This also indirectly reflects the developers' lack of confidence in the Blast ecosystem.

Affected by the above events, the Blast ecosystem SocialFi project EarlyFans previously stated, "Given that Blast will not renew its service agreement with Safe and the suspension of Thruster’s operations, the risks of keeping assets on the Blast network are increasing, and it has withdrawn the LP of EARLY tokens (worth $70,000) from Thruster." Of course, ultimately, EarlyFans transitioned to "maintenance mode" and shifted its focus to developing a fully native mobile application 8020.

A series of chain reactions indicate that the trust foundation of the Blast ecosystem is collapsing. When infrastructure cooperation breaks down and core applications stagnate, developers and users will naturally choose more stable networks.

Why has Blast moved from the spotlight to decline?

Behind the fall from the peak of Blast are multiple factors at play:

1. The significant cooling of NFTs: The deep integration of Blast and Blur has had a huge impact on Blast due to the cooling of the NFT market.

2. Mismatch between points economy and real demand: Blast quickly increases TVL with "mining upon deposit" and "points for airdrops," but many addresses are only there to earn points, and the protocol layer lacks reasons for users to stay.

3. Token Price: The prices of BLAST and BLUR have fallen over 90% from their historical highs, severely undermining the confidence of investors and developers. In the cryptocurrency market, token prices often create a positive feedback loop with ecosystem activity, while the continued sluggishness of prices further diminishes the attractiveness of Blast.

4. Lack of ecological diversity: The DApp ecosystem of Blast is far less diverse than competitors like Base. Most users only cross-chain to earn airdrop points, and their willingness to actively participate in application interactions is extremely low, resulting in a continuous decline in network activity.

5. Narrative Overdraft and Competition: "Native Yield" was once the core selling point of Blast, but as the market lost interest in its narrative and the ecosystem failed to present breakthrough applications, it became inevitable to be surpassed by competitors.

Summary

The departure of Fantasy.top is undoubtedly a testament to the diminishing appeal of the Blast ecosystem. When incentive points are no longer universal and narratives lose their novelty, developers will naturally gravitate towards networks that are more stable, have stronger liquidity, and consist of more genuine users.

Looking back at the rise and fall of Blast, its founder attracted a number of excellent developers through early marketing, but failed to build the infrastructure and user stickiness necessary for sustainable ecosystem development. This once again confirms the harsh law of the crypto world: relying on short-term speculation and traffic tactics may win temporary attention, but only by truly addressing user needs and building a healthy ecosystem can one establish a foothold in fierce competition.

The migration trend from Blast to Base is not just a choice for a single project, but an inevitability of the "de-bubbling" of the Layer2 track.