400,000 Users Weren’t Enough: Ethereum Project to Shut Down, Urges Users to Move Assets
Abstract, an Ethereum layer-2 network with more than 400,000 users, announced it will shut down on December 15, 2026, and urged users to move their assets off the network before then.
According to the shutdown announcement reported by The Block, Abstract will cease operations due to stagnant growth, weak liquidity, limited decentralized finance (DeFi) options, and low institutional adoption. The project said users who do not bridge their assets to another network before the shutdown could risk losing access to their funds.
More than 144 applications had launched on the network, which attracted more than 400,000 users through consumer-focused partnerships with brands such as Red Bull Racing and Disney. Despite this, the team said it was not feasible to sustain a network built solely around consumer-focused crypto use as an independent business model.
Lost tens of millions of dollars and scrapped plans for a token
Igloo, the company behind Pudgy Penguins, had funded Abstract for the past 18 months. CEO Luca Netz said the project had lost tens of millions of dollars.
Netz said they had considered issuing an Abstract token or holding an initial coin offering (ICO) to keep the network running, but decided against it. In his view, taking that step without a strong use case to drive demand for the token could have harmed the community.
Igloo will now direct its resources toward Pudgy Penguins and PENGU. The company does not want to continue funding Abstract at the expense of the Pudgy Penguins business.
December 15 is the key date for Abstract users
The Abstract mainnet launched in January 2025. Igloo raised more than $11 million in funding in a round led by Founders Fund in July 2024 to develop the project.
With the shutdown decision, December 15, 2026, is now the deadline for users with assets on the network. The project is urging them to complete transfers before the shutdown date.
The decision came less than a week after Blast, another Ethereum layer-2 network backed by Paradigm, announced it would cease operations because its costs exceeded its revenue.