New NFT Marketplace Blur Raises $11 Million

Blur, in a Monday press release, revealed that it had raised $11 million in a funding round that was led by popular venture capital firm, Paradigm. According to the firm, the funds would be channeled towards delivering the best NFT marketplace for professional traders

Blur stated that the trading volume of the NFT space has substantially grown into billions since the year began; however, the current marketplaces do not make provision for the needs of professional traders as they, instead, prioritize the experience of retail investors. This has left a chasm in the space it is looking to fill.

According to the firm, “infrastructure has failed to keep up as monthly trading volumes hit billions, and web2 business models hold the space back with poorly aligned incentives. Our mission is to solve these problems and move the NFT space toward becoming institutional-grade while increasing decentralization”.

Speaking on the level of experience of its team, Blur revealed that team members were experienced from their time at MIT, Five Rings, Brex, Square, and Y Combinator. It also added that they had previously built spot exchanges, marketplaces, and created financial products that millions of people worldwide have used. All of this put together would put it in good stead to deliver a product that would help to unlock the future of NFTs.

This fundraising adds Blur to the NFT projects that have drawn huge investments from investors. Yuga Labs, the parent company of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), recently raised $450 million in a funding round led by a16z. Before that, $200 million was raised by Immutable, a company set to advance NFTs by concentrating on layer-2 technology. 

Other investors involved in the funding round include eGirl Capital, 0xMaki, Keyboard Monkey, Santiago Santos, Zeneca, Deeze, Andy (Fractional), and LedgerStatus, among others. 

NFT Sales Drop

In a recently released report from crypto analytics firm, Nansen, it was revealed that one in three NFT collections could be labeled as “dead” due to the lack of transactions on the collection.

The firm revealed that some of these NFTs also have their holders at a loss as some of them have rapidly dropped below their mint price. This means that these assets are currently trading at a price much lower than they could be said to have been bought.

Analysts in the space, however, believe that the drop in sales number is only an indication of the current political tension around the world. According to them, NFTs still have a strong future in gaming and art.