Blast Winds Down Ethereum L2 Once Over $2B; Users Face Oct. 26 Withdrawal Cutoff

Source check: The shutdown, the cost-versus-revenue reason and the Oct. 26 withdrawal date are reported by three of the four independent outlets we reviewed. The “more than $2 billion” peak figure appears in two. The 98% asset decline and the bridge mechanics each come from a single outlet and are attributed below.

Blast, an Ethereum layer-2 network that at its peak held more than $2 billion in crypto assets, is shutting down because the cost of operating the chain now exceeds the revenue it brings in. The team announced the decision in a post on X on Friday, Oct. 2, 2026, and asked users to move their funds back to Ethereum mainnet before Oct. 26.

“Unfortunately, the economics of operating the chain no longer make sense,” the Blast team wrote, according to Cointelegraph. The outlet also reported that Blast said it sees no “credible path” to making the network economically sustainable.

The Numbers Behind the Exit

The peak figure varies slightly by outlet. CoinDesk and Cointelegraph both put it above $2 billion, while Decrypt described Blast as a former $2.3 billion network. These figures are not contradictory: they likely reflect different measurement points, such as pre-launch deposits versus later total value locked.

CoinDesk reported that the network’s assets have since fallen 98%. No other outlet in our set gave a figure for the drop, so we treat it as single-sourced. CoinDesk also linked the decline to fading activity, rising costs and competition from larger players such as Coinbase and Robinhood building networks of their own.

Broader market context was calm. Ether traded near $2,677 on the day, down roughly 1.5%, based on price tickers that two outlets displayed at publication. That is a last known value from aggregated snapshots, not a live quote.

Withdrawal Timeline: What Users Need to Know

Oct. 26 is the key date. Three outlets confirm that users should withdraw before then. The finer mechanics come from Cointelegraph alone.

According to that report, Blast will cut its withdrawal delay to 24 hours. Withdrawals will pause temporarily while the team unwinds its Lido assets, a process expected to take about a week. After Oct. 26, funds will remain accessible, but users will need to interact directly with Blast’s bridge contracts on Ethereum rather than the project’s interface. Blast said it will publish instructions for that route before the cutoff.

For holders, the practical risk is friction, not loss. Calling bridge contracts directly is harder for non-technical users, and that kind of shift tends to attract phishing sites posing as “withdrawal helpers.” Use only instructions published through Blast’s official channels.

From Blur’s NFT Run to a Points-Driven L2

Cointelegraph’s account of Blast’s origins is single-sourced but consistent with its public history. Blast was founded by Tieshun “Pacman” Roquerre, who also created the NFT marketplace Blur. Launched in October 2022, Blur used token incentives aimed at professional traders and overtook OpenSea in trading volume by the end of that year.

Roquerre unveiled Blast in November 2023. It offered native yield on ETH and stablecoins and ran a points programme tied to an expected token airdrop. That approach drew more than $2 billion in deposits before mainnet went live in February 2024.

The model filled the vaults fast. It did not keep the chain profitable. Incentive-led deposits leave once rewards fade, and the sequencer fees and other revenue that remain must cover the cost of running the network. On Blast’s own account, they no longer do.

Open Questions in the Record

None of the four reports gave a current total value locked figure in dollars, a breakdown of operating costs, or details on what happens to applications deployed on Blast. The 98% decline is the closest proxy, and it rests on one outlet. The next confirmed milestone is the publication of Blast’s direct-bridge withdrawal guide, which the team has promised before the Oct. 26 interface cutoff.

Sources

• cointelegraph.com
• coingape.com
• decrypt.co
• coindesk.com