Abstract, the Ethereum Layer 2 network under Igloo, the parent company of Pudgy Penguins, announced on October 6 (U.S. time) that it would cease operations. The chain will shut down on December 15, 2026. Igloo CEO Luca Netz said on X that the company had funded Abstract for the past 18 months, losing tens of millions of dollars over two years without finding product-market fit.
The official reasons included a limited DeFi ecosystem, thin on-chain liquidity, little institutional engagement, and a smaller budget than competitors. It also said that chains focused solely on consumer crypto applications are difficult to sustain independently. Netz added that the team could have issued a token or launched an ICO to stay afloat, but ultimately chose not to, saying that tokens without genuine demand would be irresponsible to the community.
Users must transfer their assets out via the Migration Hub or the native bridge before December 15. The native bridge takes about three hours, and funds not transferred by the deadline will be unrecoverable. The Abstract engineering team will help on-chain projects migrate to other chains. After the shutdown, Igloo will refocus its resources on Pudgy Penguins, its NFTs, and $PENGU .
This is the second Ethereum Layer 2 to announce a shutdown in a matter of days; Blast announced a gradual wind-down on October 2. In the market, Binance spot PENGU was trading at around $0.00919 around 09:00 (UTC+8) on October 7, down about 4% over 24 hours. At the same time, $ETH was around $2,697, down less than 1% over 24 hours.
#PENGU #ETH #Layer2 does not constitute investment advice.
The official reasons included a limited DeFi ecosystem, thin on-chain liquidity, little institutional engagement, and a smaller budget than competitors. It also said that chains focused solely on consumer crypto applications are difficult to sustain independently. Netz added that the team could have issued a token or launched an ICO to stay afloat, but ultimately chose not to, saying that tokens without genuine demand would be irresponsible to the community.
Users must transfer their assets out via the Migration Hub or the native bridge before December 15. The native bridge takes about three hours, and funds not transferred by the deadline will be unrecoverable. The Abstract engineering team will help on-chain projects migrate to other chains. After the shutdown, Igloo will refocus its resources on Pudgy Penguins, its NFTs, and $PENGU .
This is the second Ethereum Layer 2 to announce a shutdown in a matter of days; Blast announced a gradual wind-down on October 2. In the market, Binance spot PENGU was trading at around $0.00919 around 09:00 (UTC+8) on October 7, down about 4% over 24 hours. At the same time, $ETH was around $2,697, down less than 1% over 24 hours.
#PENGU #ETH #Layer2 does not constitute investment advice.
