BLUR price crashes 29% as NFT marketplace plans shutdown

NFT marketplace Blur has announced plans to shut down its website frontend and stop matching new loans through its Blend lending protocol on November 12, 2026, as its BLUR token plunged more than 29% in 24 hours.

Blur confirmed the decision in an October 12 post on X, stating that the shutdown would affect only the website interface. Its underlying marketplace protocol will continue operating onchain, while BLUR will retain control over the protocol’s fee switch. The company separately announced that Blend borrowers have until November 12 to repay outstanding loans or allow them to default.

1/ The https://t.co/zPQ1jqR7pT frontend will be deprecated on November 12, 2026.

This deprecation only applies to the frontend.

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

— Blur (@blur_io) October 12, 2026

BLUR price drops 29% as trading volume surges

Following the announcement, BLUR recorded a sharp selloff, falling 29.1% over the past 24 hours. According to CoinGecko, the token was trading at $0.01341 at press time, with its market capitalization standing at approximately $38.75 million. The cryptocurrency moved between $0.01267 and $0.01909 during the same period.

Trading activity increased during the decline, with BLUR’s 24-hour trading volume reaching $42.6 million. The latest figures showed a fully diluted valuation of nearly $39.97 million, while total value locked stood at $22.63 million. Derivatives open interest reached approximately $32.71 million, showing the value of outstanding futures and other derivative positions linked to the token.

Selling pressure extended beyond the immediate announcement. CoinGecko data showed BLUR had fallen 37.4% over seven days and 33.1% over 14 days. Its monthly decline stood at 26.8%, while the token had lost 77.2% over the past year. The reported circulating supply was approximately 2.91 billion BLUR out of a maximum supply of 3 billion tokens.

Earlier Binance trading data showed the token falling to 0.01410 USDT before recovering to 0.01523 USDT, representing a 16.55% daily decline at that observation point. The later CoinGecko snapshot recorded a deeper drop as selling continued. The available market figures show the price decline following the announcement but do not establish how much of the selling came directly from the planned closure.

Blur website to close on November 12, but trading protocol stays active

In its official announcement, Blur said the existing website would be discontinued on November 12. The company clarified that the decision would not shut down its blockchain-based marketplace protocol, which will continue operating after the frontend closes.

“The Blur marketplace protocol will remain operational on-chain,” the team stated, adding that BLUR would continue controlling its fee switch. The announcement did not provide details about a replacement website or explain whether the team intends to launch another trading interface.

Blur’s website has served as the main access point for users buying, selling and managing NFT listings. Its marketplace attracted traders through features designed for high-volume NFT activity, including collection-wide bids, portfolio tools and trading rewards. The company built its platform around tools intended for professional traders competing for liquidity across Ethereum NFT collections.

The marketplace emerged in 2022 and secured $11 million in seed funding in March that year. Paradigm led the financing round, with investors including eGirl Capital and 0xMaki. Blur later became one of the largest NFT trading platforms during the 2023 market cycle, when trading incentives encouraged activity across major NFT collections.

The team has not announced that BLUR token trading will end after November 12. Its statement specifically preserves the token’s role in governing the marketplace fee switch, although it did not provide new information about future fee arrangements or token incentives.

Blend NFT lending will stop matching new loans

Alongside the website closure, Blur announced that its NFT lending protocol, Blend, would stop matching new loans on November 12. Borrowers have been instructed to settle their outstanding positions before the deadline or allow those loans to default under the protocol’s rules.

“Borrowers have until then to repay their loans or allow them to default,” the team stated. Blur said it would provide a frontend tool after the deadline to help users withdraw their assets from Blend. The company has not specified when the withdrawal tool will become available or published detailed instructions for borrowers with outstanding positions.

Blend launched in May 2023 as a peer-to-peer NFT lending protocol developed with contributions from Paradigm researchers Dan Robinson and Transmissions11. The service allowed NFT holders to borrow cryptocurrency using their digital collectibles as collateral, without requiring them to sell the underlying assets.

At launch, the Blend NFT lending protocol introduced loans without fixed expiration dates, allowing positions to remain open subject to repayment and refinancing conditions. Lenders could provide funds against NFT collateral, while borrowers could repay loans or face liquidation procedures when required by the protocol.

Blend initially attracted substantial borrowing activity. In May 2023, DappRadar figures cited in reporting on Blend’s early lending growth showed the protocol had facilitated approximately 169,900 ETH in loans within 22 days, valued at roughly $308 million at the time. The platform accounted for approximately 82% of NFT borrowing volume during the measured period.

Blur has not disclosed the current value of outstanding Blend loans or the number of borrowers affected by the November deadline. Its October 12 announcement focused on ending new loan matching, repayment requirements and the planned withdrawal interface.

Blur closure follows Blast shutdown announcement

The decision comes shortly after Blast, an Ethereum layer-2 blockchain developed by Blur founder Tieshun “Pacman” Roquerre and his team, announced plans to wind down operations. Blast said on October 2 that maintaining its blockchain had become more expensive than the revenue generated by the network.

Under the Blast network shutdown plan, users have until October 26 to withdraw funds through the project’s regular interface. The team instructed customers to move their assets to Ethereum mainnet, including balances held through the Blast progressive web application.

Blast said the withdrawal process would temporarily pause while it retrieved assets held through Lido, a process expected to take approximately one week. Once completed, withdrawals would resume with a shortened 24-hour waiting period. Users who miss the October 26 interface deadline will still be able to recover assets directly through Ethereum bridge contracts, according to the project’s announcement.

The team attributed its closure to operating costs that exceeded the blockchain’s revenue. It said there was “no credible path” toward maintaining the network on a financially sustainable basis. Blast committed to publishing further instructions for contract-based withdrawals before the regular interface closes.

Within the Blast ecosystem, Fantasy Top had announced its closure earlier in 2026. The trading card project said it would refund pre-seed and seed investors, reporting that approximately 70% of its lifetime revenue had arrived during its first month on mainnet. Fantasy Top’s team said the concentration of activity during its initial launch period had made it difficult to sustain the business.

In its final October 12 communication, Blur warned users about impersonators and fraudulent announcements concerning the shutdown. The team identified @blur_io as its only official X account and instructed users to avoid messages claiming to provide alternative announcements or withdrawal instructions.