- Blast announced on Oct. 2, 2026, that it will shut down because the costs of maintaining the Layer 2 network exceed its revenue.
- The team said it sees no credible path to making the network economically self-sustaining.
- Users can withdraw assets through Blast’s standard interface until Oct. 26, after which they must interact directly with bridge contracts on Ethereum.
The Blast team announced on Oct. 2, 2026, that it will shut down the network because operating costs exceed the revenue generated by the Layer 2 network. The decision means users should move their assets to Ethereum, with Blast’s standard withdrawal interface remaining available until Oct. 26.
Blast launched its mainnet on Feb. 29, 2024, as an Ethereum-based Layer 2 network for users and developers. The team decided to wind down operations after more than two years because it does not expect the network to become economically self-sustaining.
Blast cites unsustainable economics
“We launched Blast with the goal of building a self-sustaining chain for users and developers. Unfortunately, the economics of operating the chain no longer make sense: the ongoing costs of maintaining Blast exceed the revenue generated by the L2, and we do not see a credible path to making the chain economically sustainable,” the team said in its announcement.
The developers apologized to the users and developers who supported the ecosystem and said their main priority during the shutdown is ensuring that assets can be withdrawn safely.
The team recommended transferring all funds to Ethereum, including balances held in the Blast progressive web application, or PWA.
Standard withdrawals available until Oct. 26
As part of the shutdown process, the team will first begin withdrawing Blast assets associated with Lido. It estimated that the process would take about one week and said withdrawals would be temporarily unavailable during that period.
After the procedure is completed, users will be able to withdraw assets subject to a new 24-hour delay instead of the previous delay.
Users can withdraw their assets through Blast’s standard interface until Oct. 26, 2026. After that date, the funds will remain available for withdrawal, but users will need to interact directly with the Blast Bridge contracts on Ethereum Layer 1.
The team said it would publish detailed instructions for using those contracts before the Oct. 26 deadline.
Source: Incrypted
