Blast is the latest Layer 2 network to burst into the scene in the last week and has taken the decentralized finance (DeFi) world by storm already. This network which seemingly came out of nowhere has backing from Paradigm, and as its popularity has risen, it has surpassed Base and Cardano’s Total Value Locked (TVL) in less than a week after launch.

Blast TVL Crosses $565 Million

The Blast network was officially announced on November 21 and it quickly garnered support from crypto investors. In the first day, the network saw over $81 million in crypto locked. And in two days, the figure had quickly grown above $123 million.

Despite some of the FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) that has followed the launch of the network, investors have continued to bridge their assorted into it. By Sunday, November 26, the total value locked on the Blast network had officially crossed $544 million, according to from DeFi tracker DeFiLlama.

Source: DeFiLlama

This figure puts the network’s TVL ahead of older competitors such as . While Blast’s TVL sits at $544 million, the Base TVL is at $338.26 million. This means that Blast’s TVL is currently 60% higher than that of Base.

In the same vein, the Blast TVL is also way ahead of that of . Presently, the sits at around $330.07 million, just a little lower than Base, and around 61% lower than that of Blast.

New L2 Draws Criticism From DeFi Investors

Amid the rapid growth that Blast has enjoyed, it has also drawn . The concerns have ranged from security to how the network is being run. One of the most pertinent criticisms has stemmed from the fact that all of the crypto being bridged to the network will be locked until next year. The network revealed that investors will not be able to access their locked funds until February 2024. In addition, Blast promises users yield on their and stablecoins being bridged to the network, but with no readily discernible way of how this yield will be earned. Some members of the crypto community have, however, figured out that the funds were being deposited into the . Apparently, Blast is currently around $1.5 million a month by depositing the bridged funds into Lido. This has further raised concerns about the growing dominance of Lido, which is headed toward 33.3% and could pose a risk for the . Nevertheless, Blast continues to dominate conversations around DeFi on social media. There is now a total of 266,130 locked on the network, with the expectations of an airdrop happening in 2024.

Total DeFi market cap at $57.26 billion | Source: