In the world of cryptocurrency, Coinbase is a major player. In recent news, the exchange announced its intention to support the ERC-20 token BLUR coin, which is the governance token of the pro-NFT trading marketplace Blur.io. However, this support will only be launched when there is sufficient BLUR liquidity. Additionally, Coinbase will label BLUR as an experimental token, which may not be available in all jurisdictions.
The announcement from Coinbase follows the news that Blur.io airdropped BLUR coin governance tokens in care packages to early traders in October 2022. At that time, Blur.io stated that it would unlock the tokens in January 2023. However, the rollout was later postponed to February 14, 2023, due to technical challenges. As part of the airdrop, users qualified to receive free a BLUR coin by performing certain tasks that generated buzz and attention for the project.
BLUR coin will be collected via care packages
The care packages have three rarity levels: uncommon, rare, and legendary, with the legendary level containing the most BLUR coin. In the first round of airdrops, active traders who traded on Blur.io within six months following its launch received uncommon care packages. The second airdrop took place in November 2022 and rewarded traders with rare care packages. The third airdrop also received legendary packages, and its tokens will also be unlocked on February 14, 2023.
The NFT marketplace is a relatively new and rapidly developing area of the cryptocurrency industry, and various exchanges are vying to gain market share. Recently, it has been reported that Coinbase’s NFT marketplace is struggling to compete with incumbent OpenSea, let alone Blur itself. According to Fortune, Coinbase’s marketplace processed a paltry $150 in trading volume and $1,500 in the week ending on February 2, 2023.
In comparison, OpenSea recorded trading volumes of $10 million between January 26, 2023, and February 2, 2023.
However, trading volumes on Blur.io’s marketplace have outperformed OpenSea in February, according to a Dune Analytics dashboard. In fact, Blur.io beat OpenSea for 12 out of 13 days in February. Sales on BLUR coin peaked at about $17 million on February 9, 2023, compared to OpenSea’s $14 million. It remains to be seen whether Coinbase’s NFT marketplace will catch up or be left behind in the competition.
Brian Armstrong has spoken about legal action
In other news, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong recently stated that the company’s legal team would fight allegations that its institutional crypto-staking product was a security. Staking is a process that allows those wishing to participate in blockchain security to earn rewards for validating transactions. This statement came after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed an enforcement action against Coinbase competitor Kraken for allegedly offering its staking service as an unregistered security to U.S. customers. Kraken paid the SEC a $30 million settlement without admitting or denying wrongdoing but withdrew its staking product from the U.S. domestic market.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that Coinbase fired former product manager Ishan Wahi last year for his involvement in an insider trading case. Wahi revealed several tokens that would be listed on the platform 24 hours before their original listings. He will be sentenced at a May 10, 2023, hearing. His younger brother is already serving a 10-month sentence for earning profit through Ishan Wahi’s leak.
Learn more about the SEC crypto staking ban by clicking the link here.
