Are you curious about the latest buzz in the cryptocurrency world? The native token of the Ethereum layer-2 network, Blast (BLAST), has made a remarkable entrance, surging 40% after its much-anticipated airdrop. This debut stands out, particularly in comparison to other recent token launches which have struggled to gain traction.

BLAST made its market debut at $0.02 per token, resulting in a fully diluted valuation (FDV) of $2 billion at launch. According to data aggregated from Ambient Finance and the perps trading platform Aevo, the price of BLAST has since climbed over 40%, reaching $0.0281 at the time of publication, as reported by CoinMarketCap.

This performance is noteworthy given the recent struggles of other high-profile token launches. For instance, the Ethereum layer-2 network zkSync (ZK) and the cross-chain interoperability project LayerZero (ZRO) have both seen their tokens fall by 46% and 43% from their initial launch prices, respectively.

The BLAST airdrop distributed 17% of the total token supply to eligible users. Specifically, 7% of the supply was allocated to users who bridged Ether (ETH) or USD on Blast (USDB) to the network starting late last year. Another 7% was given to users who contributed to the success of decentralized applications (DApps) on the network, and the remaining 3% was reserved for the Blur Foundation to facilitate future airdrops to its community.

Despite the successful rally, the airdrop did not escape criticism. Some crypto market commentators on X voiced their disappointment, arguing that the launch valuation did not meet their expectations. Arthur Cheong, co-founder of DeFiance Capital, expressed surprise at BLAST’s $2 billion FDV, having anticipated a valuation closer to $5 billion.

The Blast network, co-founded by Tieshun Roquerre (known by his pseudonym PacMan), faced scrutiny from its own seed investors last November. They criticized the network for lacking sufficient features to justify the one-way bridging mechanism that required users to lock up their ETH for several months.

As with many high-profile airdrops, Blast’s event also attracted scammers. Similar to the Wormhole protocol airdrop earlier this year, scammers used the opportunity to pose as legitimate entities. Airdrops often require users to connect their wallets and sign transactions, making them prime targets for fraud. Crypto security service Scam Sniffer identified at least one victim who lost over $217,000 to a Blast airdrop scam after signing multiple phishing signatures.

In summary, while the Blast token's launch has been met with significant market enthusiasm and a notable price surge, it also highlights the persistent challenges and risks within the crypto space, including unrealistic valuation expectations and the constant threat of scams.