Blur review

High-volume Ethereum traders who want bidding depth

Last verified August 17, 20264 scored axes

Score8.3

Documented, with gaps

The short answer

Blur scores 8.3 out of 10 and ranks #4 of 8 in the best nft marketplaces table, strongest on liquidity (9.4) and weakest on coverage (7.4).

Built for traders rather than collectors, with collection-wide bidding and portfolio tools that concentrated Ethereum NFT liquidity around it. Its incentive programmes drove real volume and a lot of behaviour that only made sense while they lasted.

Key facts on record

Launched: 2022
Chain: Ethereum
Model: Bid pools and aggregation

What the record shows

4 axes, weighted as published in the table’s methodology. Each score below is read from the fact printed under it.

Blur on custody & approvals

8.4/ 35% of the score

Assets remain in the user's wallet under a marketplace approval; collection bidding requires depositing ETH into an on-chain bidding contract, which is disclosed.

Blur on fee clarity

8.0/ 25% of the score

Zero platform fee published; creator royalties are optional and this is stated at listing.

Blur on liquidity

9.4/ 20% of the score

Deepest collection-level bid pools on Ethereum, visible on-chain; incentive programmes materially inflated 2023 volume, which the on-chain record shows.

Blur on coverage

7.4/ 20% of the score

Ethereum-focused, with aggregation across other Ethereum marketplaces.

Quick answers

What is Blur best for?: High-volume Ethereum traders who want bidding depth. Built for traders rather than collectors, with collection-wide bidding and portfolio tools that concentrated Ethereum NFT liquidity around it.
Where does Blur rank among best nft marketplaces?: #4 of 8, scoring 8.3 out of 10 — documented, with gaps on our band scale.
What is the weakest part of Blur?: Coverage at 7.4. Ethereum-focused, with aggregation across other Ethereum marketplaces.

Strengths and weaknesses

In its favour

Deepest collection-level bidding on Ethereum
Excellent portfolio and sweep tooling for active traders
Zero platform fee on trades

Against it

Optional royalties reduced creator income across the market
Volume was heavily shaped by token incentive programmes

Bidding, not browsing

Blur's contribution was collection-level bid pools: instead of listing and waiting, traders post bids for any item in a collection, which gives holders continuous liquidity. Combined with sweep and portfolio tooling, it pulled the professional flow off OpenSea within months and forced the incumbent to rebuild its fee structure.

Zero platform fee, optional royalties

There is no platform fee, which is published and real. Creator royalties are optional, stated at listing — a position that materially reduced creator income across the market. Reasonable people disagree about whether that was a correction or a harm; what matters for a reader is that Blur says which side it is on.

How much of the volume was rented

Token incentive programmes materially inflated 2023 volume, which the on-chain record shows. Farming activity that exists to earn BLUR is not the same as demand for the art, and anyone reading volume charts from that period should discount accordingly.

Custody and scope

Assets remain in your wallet under a marketplace approval; collection bidding requires depositing ETH into an on-chain bidding contract, which is disclosed. Ethereum-focused, with aggregation across other Ethereum marketplaces.

Who it suits

High-volume Ethereum traders who want deep collection bids and portfolio tooling, and who have priced the royalty position into how they think about the market they are trading in.

Frequently asked questions

Does Blur charge fees?+

No platform fee on trades. Creator royalties are optional and stated at listing, which is the policy that made Blur contentious among creators.

Is Blur safe to use?+

Assets stay in your wallet under a marketplace approval. Collection bidding does require depositing ETH into an on-chain bidding contract, which the interface discloses.

Why was Blur's volume so high in 2023?+

Token incentive programmes rewarded trading activity, which materially inflated volume. The on-chain record separates that farming from organic demand.

How Blur compares

8 services in best nft marketplaces

How to read these tables

No paid placement. Nobody buys a position, a score or a mention. We take no affiliate commission on any link in this section, and operators do not see their score before it publishes.

Scores are read from the record. Each one is derived from the fact printed beside it — a published attestation, a contract, a register entry, an incident report — against bands that describe evidentiary states. Facts age: each table carries the date it was last verified, and this is not an audit.

Nothing here is financial advice. Crypto services fail, change terms and withdraw from markets without notice. Verify anything that matters directly with the provider, and tell us when we get something wrong.

Found something out of date? Write to the desk — corrections are printed with the table.