Blast, the Ethereum layer-2 network backed by Paradigm, is shutting down after concluding that the cost of operating the chain exceeds its revenue and that it has no credible route to long-term economic sustainability. The network once held more than $2.3 billion in assets and attracted users with promises of automatic yield and token airdrops.
Users given withdrawal deadline
Blast is asking users to move their assets back to Ethereum’s mainnet. This includes funds held in Blast’s progressive web app, or PWA. The network said it plans to reduce the withdrawal delay to 24 hours, although withdrawals will initially pause for about a week while Blast removes network assets from Lido, a liquid staking protocol.
Users can withdraw through Blast’s standard interface until Oct. 26. After that date, funds will still be accessible, but users will need to interact directly with Blast’s bridge contracts on Ethereum. Blast said it will release instructions for that process before the deadline.
The shutdown announcement was reported by Decrypt, which cited a statement from the Blast team on X. “As a result, we've made the difficult decision to wind Blast down,” the team said.
From rapid growth to winding down
Blast launched in November 2023 under the team behind NFT marketplace Blur. Its pitch centered on built-in yield for ETH and stablecoin holdings, alongside the prospect of future airdrops. Paradigm co-led a $20 million seed funding round, although the investment firm publicly criticized the network’s launch messaging at the time.
The project attracted more than $1.1 billion in deposits before its network went live. By the February 2024 mainnet launch, more than $2.3 billion was locked in Blast’s bridge. The momentum did not last. Blast briefly stopped producing blocks after Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade in March 2024, while its June 2024 airdrop allocated $354 million worth of BLAST tokens to users and generated disappointment among some participants.
By that point, Blast’s total value locked had fallen by about 30% from its $2.3 billion peak. Total value locked is a measure of assets deposited in a blockchain network’s applications and contracts, and is commonly used as an indicator of activity and user participation.
Part of a wider layer-2 retreat
Blast is joining Zero Network and Silicon Network among Ethereum layer-2 projects winding down this year. Zerion said in May that it would close its gasless Zero Network after roughly 18 months, giving users until July 31 to bridge their assets out.
Silicon Network, associated with South Korean exchange Korbit, stopped accepting deposits on Sept. 2. Users have until Dec. 31 to withdraw, while about $9.75 million remained on the chain, according to L2Beat data.
Market picture
Moneyiar data at 09:23-09:24 on Oct. 3, 2026, showed Ethereum at $2,684.60, down 2.36% over 24 hours and up 0.04% over seven days. Uniswap was at $9.24, up 2.05% in 24 hours but down 4.19% over seven days. Shiba Inu stood at $0.000005656, down 5.02% daily and 3.42% weekly, while Pepe traded at $0.000004243, down 7.10% daily and 3.68% weekly.
