About $76 million in assets is still sitting on Abstract, and its owners have until 15 December to move it. After that date the network stops, and anyone who has not bridged out risks losing access to their funds.
Abstract is an Ethereum layer 2 built by Igloo, the company behind the Pudgy Penguins NFT brand. Its mainnet launched in January 2025. The closure was announced on Tuesday.
Luca Netz, Igloo’s chief executive, said the company had lost eight figures funding the network over 18 months and could no longer justify taking that money from the Pudgy Penguins business. The stated reasons were stagnant growth, thin liquidity and limited institutional adoption.
The usage numbers were not trivial. CoinDesk reports more than 325 million transactions and $6 billion in decentralised exchange volume, with Disney and Red Bull Racing among the brands that took part. The income was. Chain fees came to about $3,900 over the previous 24 hours, according to CoinDesk.
Netz made a point of what Igloo did not do. He said the company could have launched a token or run a coin offering even after those losses, and decided against it, because a token with nothing driving demand would have been a disservice to its community.
Blast, another layer 2, announced its own wind-down on 2 October. Two closures in five days is not proof of a trend, but neither chain found enough users who paid.
The open question is the $76 million. Neither The Block nor CoinDesk reports what happens to assets left behind after 15 December, or whether the apps built on Abstract have anywhere to go.
