Blast, the Ethereum layer-2 network that previously drew billions of dollars in total value locked through promises of built-in yield and airdrops, is shutting down. The team announced on X that maintaining the network costs more than it earns, leaving no credible path to economic sustainability.
Launched in November 2023 by the team behind the NFT marketplace Blur, Blast offered automatic yield on ETH and stablecoin balances. It secured a $20 million seed round co-led by Paradigm. Before the network went live, users deposited over $1.1 billion, and total value locked reached more than $2.3 billion by the time the mainnet launched in February 2024.
However, the network faced several hurdles following its launch. It experienced a brief block production halt after Ethereum's Dencun upgrade in March 2024, and its June 2024 airdrop allocated $354 million worth of BLAST tokens but left many participants disappointed. By the time of the airdrop, total value locked had already declined by about 30% from its peak.
To facilitate the shutdown, Blast is reducing its withdrawal delay to 24 hours. Withdrawals will temporarily pause for approximately one week while the network withdraws its assets from the liquid staking protocol Lido. Users have until October 26 to withdraw funds through the standard Blast interface. After that date, assets will remain accessible only through direct interaction with Blast's bridge contracts on Ethereum, with instructions to be published prior to the deadline.
Blast joins other Ethereum layer-2 networks winding down operations, including Zerion's Zero Network and Korbit-associated Silicon Network. The broader crypto industry has also seen several exchange closures this year, including CoinEx, BitMEX, and BitMart.
