Blur to Shut Down NFT Marketplace Website on November 12
Written with artificial intelligence.
Blur is set to take its NFT marketplace website offline on November 12, 2023, as it faces a significant drop in sales. While the on-chain marketplace will remain operational, users must address any open loans on its Blend platform before the shutdown date.
Shutdown Details
Blur has announced that its NFT marketplace website, blur.io, will go offline on November 12, 2023. This decision follows a dramatic decline in monthly NFT sales, which plummeted from $1.78 billion in December 2022 to $167.2 million in September 2023. Despite the website's closure, the underlying Blur marketplace protocol will continue to operate on-chain, allowing existing BLUR token holders to maintain control over its fee switch.
Blend Lending Platform
Alongside the website shutdown, Blur's peer-to-peer NFT lending platform, Blend, will cease matching new loans on the same day. Users with open loans must either repay them or let them default by November 12. After this date, Blur plans to introduce a tool to assist users in withdrawing their assets from Blend, though specific details about this tool have yet to be provided. Users are advised to finalize their positions in Blend before the deadline.
Context of Sales Decline
This shutdown is part of a broader trend affecting the NFT market, which has seen a steep decline in trading volume. September 2023's sales figures showed a significant drop compared to the previous year, raising questions about the sustainability of marketplaces that depend on high trading volumes for reward systems. While the total number of NFT sales has increased, the value of each sale has decreased, complicating the market landscape.
Important Dates
If you have NFTs stored on Blur or an open loan with Blend, mark November 12 on your calendar to ensure you take necessary actions before the shutdown.