Blast Shuts Down Due to Unsustainable Economics
The Ethereum layer-2 network Blast has announced its shutdown, citing unsustainable operating economics. In a statement on October 2, the project revealed that it plans to wind down its operations and shut down the network. Users are being asked to move their assets to the Ethereum mainnet by October 26 to withdraw through the normal interface.
The decision comes after nearly three years of operation, with Blast having secured $20 million in funding from Paradigm and Standard Crypto in November 2023. The network was designed to provide users with access to yield from Ethereum staking and real-world asset protocols, with Lido and MakerDAO listed as yield sources. However, the project now claims that the operating economics no longer justify keeping the network running.
As part of the shutdown process, Blast will first withdraw its assets from Lido, a process that is expected to take approximately one week. User withdrawals will be temporarily unavailable during this time, but will resume with a 24-hour delay once the Lido process is complete. After the October 26 deadline, users will need to interact directly with the bridge contracts on Ethereum mainnet to withdraw their assets.