Despite controversy surrounding its initial rollout, Ethereum layer-2 scaling network Blast has attracted over $1.3 billion from users seeking yield and airdrop rewards. 

Now, the project has launched its testnet and is aiming to bring app developers into its ecosystem with the promise of airdropped tokens.

On Tuesday, Blast announced the launch of its testnet and a “Big Bang” competition to attract developers to start building on the platform. 

The Blast Testnet is OFFICIALLY LIVE

With it, the Blast BIG BANG competition officially begins.

Dapps can compete to get in front of 100k users & $1.3B in TVL, connect with top investors, and earn the Blast Airdrop. pic.twitter.com/Cajnmtxtd3

— Blast (@Blast_L2) January 16, 2024

Developers who enter their Blast apps into the competition will have the first chance to earn token rewards in the upcoming airdrop, with the winning apps being promoted to the mainnet when it goes live in late February.

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Blast founder Tieshun “Pacman” Roquerre, also the founder of the leading NFT marketplace Blur, will judge the contest along with representatives from investors Paradigm and Standard Crypto. 

Pacman and his team will also provide guidance and mentorship to developers throughout the competition.

Blast will distribute half of its total airdrop to users and the other half to developers. 

More than 100,000 total wallets have now locked up over $1.3 billion worth of cryptocurrency to earn “Blast points,” which will eventually convert to airdropped tokens once the Blast mainnet is live. 

With the Big Bang competition and beyond, Blast aims to get decentralized app (dApp) creators to start building on the platform and earn a share of the other half of the airdrop.

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However, Blast’s launch has not been without controversy. 

Crypto users and fellow developers criticized the platform’s approach to launching a bridge to take deposits before the Blast network was actually ready and live, as well as blocking users from withdrawing their funds until the mainnet debuts in February.

Paradigm, Blast’s prominent backer, also expressed concerns about the launch, with Head of Research and General Partner Dan Robinson tweeting that the announcement “crossed lines in both messaging and execution.”

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