Solana's NFT utility provider, Cardinal Labs, announced plans to shut down after just one year of operation, having raised $4.4 million. Launched in early 2022 to improve NFT utility on the Solana network, the Cardinal team cited challenging macroeconomic conditions and difficulties in achieving product market fit. They will commence a two-month notice period, advising users to withdraw assets before the operational shutdown.

Cardinal stated it had witnessed some usage of its staking, rentals, and identity products but not at the scale necessary for a successful and sustainable business. The protocol's offerings will remain accessible through open source code, even after the deployments are no longer live. Operations will cease completely on August 26; users must complete all withdrawals by this date.