The Blast Mainnet is about to go live, a deep dive into its security risks and future potential.

Recently, Blast has once again become the focus of the market. With the conclusion of its "Big Bang" developer competition, its total locked value (TVL) continues to rise, surpassing the $2 billion mark, occupying an important position in the Layer 2 field.

Blast announced that it will launch its Mainnet on February 29, attracting widespread attention. However, with the rapid development of the ecosystem, various projects are emerging one after another, which also brings potential security risks. This article will delve into Blast's development history, unique advantages, and potential security hazards.

Blast Development History

Blast was launched by Pacman on November 21, 2023, quickly causing a stir in the crypto community. Within 48 hours of going live, the network's TVL reached $570 million, attracting over 50,000 users to participate.

Last year, Blast raised $20 million in funding from institutions such as Paradigm and Standard Crypto, and then secured a $5 million investment from Japanese cryptocurrency investment firm CGV.

According to the latest data, the total asset value of the Blast contract address exceeds $2 billion, with $1.8 billion in ETH deposited in the Lido protocol and over $160 million in DAI deposited in the MakerDAO protocol, showcasing its market popularity.

Unique Advantages of Blast

The uniqueness of Blast lies in providing native yield for ETH and stablecoins, which is not available in other Layer 2 solutions. After users transfer ETH into Blast, the system deposits it into Lido for yield generation and introduces a new yield-bearing stablecoin USDB (which generates returns by purchasing U.S. Treasury bonds through MakerDAO) into the Blast network.

As a new creation from the Blur team, Blast comes with traffic advantages. Blur has previously distributed over $200 million in airdrops, boasting a broad community foundation. Blast attracts users to participate in staking through airdrop incentives and traffic fission.

Blast Security Risk Analysis

Despite the attention on Blast, its security remains controversial. A thorough analysis of the Blast Deposit contract reveals the following main risk points:

1. Centralized Risk

The key function enableTransition of the Blast Deposit contract can only be called by the contract administrator. This function sets the mainnetBridge contract address, which can access all staked ETH and DAI. Additionally, the contract can be upgraded at any time via the upgradeTo function, which helps to fix vulnerabilities but also poses potential risks.

2. Multi-signature Dispute

The Blast Deposit contract is controlled by a 3/5 multi-signature wallet, with all 5 signature addresses being newly created addresses from 3 months ago, and their identities are unknown. This structure has raised concerns within the community regarding its security.

The Blast team acknowledged these risks and stated that they would adopt multiple hardware wallets for management to mitigate centralization risks. However, the specific management processes and preventive measures have not yet been disclosed.

Blast Ecosystem Risks

Recently, the GambleFi project Risk in the Blast ecosystem is suspected to have experienced a Rug Pull event, resulting in a loss of approximately 500 ETH. The project's official social media account has been deleted, and multiple investors have reported significant losses.

Monitoring shows that most of the stolen funds have been transferred to different exchanges, and a small portion of the funds has been cross-chain to Arbitrum and Cosmos.

Conclusion

The rapid rise and innovative model of Blast have undoubtedly attracted widespread attention in the market. However, its centralized structure and potential risks in the ecosystem cannot be ignored. As the Mainnet is about to launch, whether Blast can effectively address these security concerns will directly impact its future development. Investors should remain vigilant when participating and closely monitor the project's security measures and improvements in transparency.