Ethereum Layer 2 Blast has gone live in early access mode following a $20 million investment from Paradigm and Standard Crypto, among others.

Blast announced the launch in a post on X late yesterday, aiming to become the first Ethereum Layer 2 to introduce a native yield model. Flashbots strategy lead Hasu, Delegate CEO Foobar and members of investment group eGirl Capital also participated in the round.

Blast was built by Tieshun Roquerre, the founder of the NFT marketplace Blur, also known as “Pacman.” Roquerre previously doxxed himself in February, outlining plans for the platform to become the "Binance of NFTs."

Roquerre will oversee the development of both Blur and Blast, adding that he had raised another $40 million to contribute to the Blur ecosystem, including Layer 2 apps for …