An unidentified trader dealing in non-fungible tokens (NFTs) gained an estimated $11 million from an airdrop reward distributed on the NFT marketplace Blur.
Data from Dune analytics reveals that a wallet linked to the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) tag named “hanwe.eth” received a total of 22,851,000 Blur (BLUR) tokens during the Blur Season 2 airdrop. At the current rate, this amount equates to around $11.2 million, according to CoinGecko. Blur employs end-of-season airdrops as an incentive strategy to entice traders to engage with its platform. These airdrops are rewards given to those actively trading NFTs on the platform at the conclusion of each season.
The extent of rewards distributed to users during these airdrops depends on their activity within the NFT trading environment. For its recent airdrop, Blur designated a reward pool of 300 million tokens, valued at $146 million based on prevailing BLUR prices. Roughly 38,000 addresses have claimed their rewards, accumulating a total of 267 million tokens. However, not every recipient is content with their rewards. Notably, influential NFT trader Jeffrey Hwang, known as Machi Big Brother, expressed frustration after receiving 6 million tokens, valued at approximately $2.9 million. In what is perceived as one of the most substantial NFT sell-offs ever recorded, Hwang sold 1,010 NFTs within 48 hours on February 25. Observers, such as Andrew Thurman from Nansen, speculated that Hwang’s profit from the Blur airdrop might constitute a significant wash trade. Hwang swiftly repurchased 991 NFTs shortly after the sale.
Blur's Ethereum trading volume outpaced OpenSea's volume earlier this year, marking a significant increase in activity. OpenSea, a prominent NFT marketplace, was prompted on February 18 to introduce a 0% fee structure in a bid to reclaim its user base from emerging competitors.
