Blast Shuts Down Ethereum Layer-2 as Costs Outpace Revenue

Blast, once among the biggest Ethereum layer-2 networks by total value locked, is winding down because running it now costs more than it earns. In a Friday post on X, the team said it sees no credible path to making the chain economically sustainable and told users to move their assets to Ethereum mainnet. It explained that the project set out to build a self-sustaining chain, but the economics no longer work.

How to Withdraw Assets Before the Oct. 26 Deadline

Blast is cutting its withdrawal delay to 24 hours. Withdrawals will pause briefly while it unwinds its Lido assets, which should take about a week. Users can withdraw through the Blast interface until Oct. 26. After that, funds stay accessible, but users must interact directly with Blast’s bridge contracts on Ethereum. The team plans to publish instructions for that route before the cutoff.

Blast’s Rise From the Blur NFT Boom

Blast was created by Tieshun “Pacman” Roquerre, founder of NFT marketplace Blur, which launched in October 2022 and overtook OpenSea in trading volume by the end of that year. Roquerre unveiled Blast in November 2023 with native yield on ETH and stablecoins and a points program tied to an expected airdrop. That drew over $2 billion in deposits before the February 2024 mainnet launch.

Falling TVL and Blur’s Decline

A weaker NFT market made growth hard to hold. Blast’s DeFi TVL peaked near $2.2 billion in June 2024 and has since dropped more than 98%. Blur’s TVL also fell from above $200 million to about $27 million.