Venture capital firm Paradigm, operating in the crypto market, has criticized Blast’s protocol marketing strategy. According to the team, the venture has crossed the lines both in messaging and in practice. It is also worth noting that Paradigm is one of Blast’s seed investors. However, it is not only Paradigm that criticizes the Blast team.
Criticism of Blast from the Paradigm Team
Dan Robinson, Paradigm’s research director, criticized Blast’s decision to launch a bridge platform before the Layer-2 network and to prevent users from withdrawing funds for three months. Robinson stated the following about the issue:
“We believe this sets a bad precedent for other projects. Many steps in the marketing process are cheapening the work of a serious team.”
Robinson, who stated that Paradigm is in contact with Blast regarding the concerns of the Paradigm team, emphasized that there have been many points of disagreement between the companies throughout the process. Despite the criticisms, Robinson also acknowledged that the Blast team, consisting of proven top-tier developers, has the ability to build great products for Web3. The management structure of Blast and the role of the Paradigm team in the decision-making process of the venture remain uncertain:
“We invest in strong, independent founders who we do not always agree with. However, we know that people can turn to us as an example of best practices in crypto. We do not approve of such tactics and take our responsibility in the ecosystem seriously.”
Not the First Criticism for Blast
Paradigm is not the first company to criticize Blast’s latest ecosystem launch. Jarrod Watts, developer relations engineer at Polygon Labs, stated that the steps towards centralization in the network pose a significant security risk. In addition, Watts warned users that Blast’s ecosystem could be compromised if an attacker gains access to the keys of three out of five team members, as it is only based on a 3/5 multisig. He also warned about the possibility of stealing all the crypto funds invested in contracts within the Blast ecosystem.
Watts also argued that Blast is not a Layer-2 network, but rather accepts funds from users and invests them in protocols like LIDO without using any bridges or testnets. He also criticized the lack of a withdrawal function in the ecosystem.
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