Ethereum layer-2 network Blast announced on October 2 that it is shutting down its operations because maintaining the chain costs more than the revenue it generates. The project stated that it sees no credible path to making the network economically sustainable.
Blast originally disclosed $20 million in funding from Paradigm and Standard Crypto on November 20, 2023, opened early access that same month, and designed the network as an optimistic rollup that passes yield from ETH staking and real-world-asset protocols, such as Lido and MakerDAO, to users.
To wind down the chain, Blast has outlined a temporary withdrawal pause and an exit timetable. The network will first withdraw its assets from Lido, a process expected to take approximately one week, during which user withdrawals will be temporarily unavailable.
Once the Lido process is complete, withdrawals will reopen with a 24-hour delay. Blast has asked users to move their assets back to the Ethereum mainnet, including balances held in its web app, by October 26 to withdraw through the normal interface.
After the October 26 deadline, assets will remain recoverable, but users will no longer be able to use the normal interface. Instead, they will need to interact directly with Blast's bridge contracts on the Ethereum mainnet. Blast stated that it will publish detailed instructions for that direct bridge route prior to the deadline.
