Blur Accused Of NFT Market Manipulation, As NFT Wash Trading Explodes 126%

Updated: 22 March 2023

Disclosure

Don’t invest unless prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment, you shouldn’t expect to be protected if something goes wrong.

Join Our Telegram channel to stay up to date on breaking news coverage

The supremacy battle for the NFT market between OpenSea and Blur NFT marketplace has taken another swift after Blur was put under intense scrutiny over market manipulation. The four-month-old marketplace replaced OpenSea as the dominant market marketplace in sales earlier this year.

Blur Under Scrutiny Over NFT Wash

In the past four months, the non-fungible token market has seen an exponential surge of NFT wash trading across different market platforms. According to a short analysis, the total volume exploded 126% in February, rising from $250 million to $580 million within months.

Unfortunately, CoinGecko, the popular NFT data aggregator, has spotted suspicious activity and market manipulation “NFT Wash Trade” in the Blur NFT marketplace. The speculations have raised concerns over its legitimacy as the NFT marketplace leader in sales.

By description, wash trading is a form of market manipulation that inflates market volume, primarily when investors, individuals, or organized groups repeatedly sell the same asset. In that context, Blur users seem used multiple accounts to earn points during airdrops.

Blur NFT Market Health

Blur accounted for 27% of the total wash trading during February, while its market rival OpenSea accounted for only 5%. Its NFT wash trading tripled last month after it airdropped its much-awaited native token BLUR. Blur equated to 34% of the total volume on the marketplace to date.

Nonetheless, it’s worth noting that the NFT wash reduced this year compared to last year. In January 2022, the non-fungible token market accounted for 67%; in February, the market recorded 23%.

Meanwhile, its native token, BLUR, has reacted sharply to wash trading concerns, plunging more than 70% in the past week. In the past 30 days, BLUR has lost more than 55% of its value. Blur has a market capitalization of $232 million.