Zero Network (Ethereum L2) to Shut Down July 31, 2026
Ethereum Layer 2 project Zero Network said it will stop block production and shut down on July 31, 2026, after ~1.5 years. The team is ending its standalone chain and shifting resources to the Zerion API and Zerion wallet products.
Zero Network previously marketed a “fully gasless, EVM-compatible rollup” design using an open paymaster for zero-fee transactions for Zerion wallet users. It now says maintaining a separate chain is no longer the best way to achieve its gas-fee reduction goal.
For traders, the key action is an enforced exit window. Users must bridge out all assets—ETH, ERC-20 tokens, and NFTs—before July 31, 2026. Bridging into Zero Network has been disabled, while bridging out remains available until the deadline. After shutdown, any unclaimed $ETH on Zero Network will be permanently lost.
The closure follows other crypto “shutdown” headlines this week (including Syndicate Labs, Fantasy.top, and Everclear), underscoring uneven sustainability across tech infrastructure. Expect localized liquidity and wallet-flow churn around late July for any ETH routed through Zero Network.
Bearish
This is a forced “L2 sunset” rather than a hack, but it creates a deadline-driven withdrawal/bridging flow. Any ETH held on Zero Network is effectively pushed into the market (or into other wallets) before July 31, which can increase near-term sell pressure and volatility around the cutoff date. Liquidity effects are likely most pronounced for ETH routed through Zero Network, so the impact is localized rather than system-wide. In the longer run, the network shutdown may reduce future gasless-use demand from this specific rollup, but it should not directly change Ethereum’s core fundamentals.