Blast Is Shutting Down: The Ethereum Layer-2 Is Closing — How to Withdraw ETH and USDB by October 26

What Blast announced

On October 2, Blast, a layer-2 network built on top of Ethereum, announced it is shutting down. The team was blunt about the reason: the network costs more to run than it earns, and they see no reliable path to breaking even. Users are asked to withdraw everything to Ethereum mainnet by October 26.

Blast launched in November 2023 with a bold promise: ETH and stablecoins on the network earn yield on their own. Even before mainnet went live in late February 2024, it drew around 200,000 users and more than $1 billion in deposits, and the project raised $20 million from Paradigm and Standard Crypto. At its peak in June 2024, the network held $2.2 billion. Today, according to CoinDesk, it holds about $32 million, a drop of 98%. Monthly network revenue fell from roughly $3.5 million to $1,793.

The BLAST token fell 17–19% on the day of the announcement. The Block puts its market cap at about $23 million. It has lost around 98% since launch.

Exit timeline

According to the team, October 26 is not the last day to get your money back. It is the last day withdrawals stay simple. Still, don't wait for it: the fewer people and funds left on the network, the worse the apps on it will work.

Why withdrawals are paused first

The ETH yield on Blast came from staking. The bridge sent the ETH users deposited to Lido, and rewards were added straight to balances, so ETH on Blast grew in quantity by itself. To give everyone their ether back, Blast first has to unstake it, and Lido has its own withdrawal queue. That is where the week-long pause comes from.

Estimates of how much is left on the bridge vary. Different sources put it between $51 million and $63 million, with about $46.6 million of that in ETH staked through Lido.

What happens to your ETH and USDB

• ETH comes back to mainnet as regular ETH, to the same address.
• USDB, Blast's own stablecoin, is converted to DAI on withdrawal, according to the project's documentation. On Ethereum you will receive the DAI stablecoin, not USDB.
• Tokens issued on Blast, including memecoins and liquidity pool shares, do not move across the bridge on their own. If an app hasn't announced its own exit plan, sell them for ETH or USDB while the network still has buyers.

How to withdraw from Blast, step by step

1. Close your positions in Blast apps: pull liquidity from pools, repay loans, unstake. Your wallet balance should hold only ETH and USDB.
2. Put a little ETH on the same address on Ethereum mainnet. A bridge withdrawal ends with a transaction on Ethereum, and you pay gas there. If you have no ETH on mainnet, you can get some from a crypto exchange by entering this address as the recipient.
3. Open the bridge only from the project's official website. Type the address yourself; don't follow links from messages. Choose a withdrawal from Blast to Ethereum.
4. Confirm the withdrawal in your wallet and save the transaction hash.
5. Wait. While Lido returns the ETH, withdrawals are paused. After that, the wait is cut to 24 hours.
6. Go back to the bridge interface and finish the withdrawal on the Ethereum side if it asks you to confirm receipt.
7. Check that the funds arrived by looking up the hash in an Ethereum block explorer. If you're not sure where to look, here is how to check a transaction by TXID hash.

Third-party bridges are faster, but they have their own fees and limits, and liquidity leaves a closing network first. If you choose one, make sure it still supports Blast and send a small amount first.

If you ever moved funds to Blast directly from an exchange, the exchange may no longer accept them back. Before sending, check that it still takes deposits on the Blast network. The safer option is to withdraw everything to Ethereum and send from there.

What to do with your ETH after withdrawing

Your ether will be in your wallet on mainnet, and from there it's business as usual. You can simply hold it. If you want to lock in your result in another coin after leaving, you can exchange ETH to BTC without registration. VertEXchange doesn't ask for an account, email or phone number, and the BTC goes straight to your own wallet. If you need dollars on the same network, you can convert ETH to USDT on Ethereum. And if privacy matters to you, you can swap ETH to Monero: its transfers are not visible in a public block explorer.

Watch out for scams

A network shutting down with user funds inside always attracts scammers. Expect fake "migration portals", "compensation claims" and emails from "Blast support".

• Blast will never ask for your seed phrase or ask you to "connect your wallet for verification". Anyone who does is trying to steal from you. For safe storage, see our guide on where to store a seed phrase so you don't lose your funds.
• The team has not announced any token "migration" to a new network. There is only one way out: withdrawing to Ethereum.
• Don't sign token spending approvals in your wallet on unfamiliar websites. That is how wallets get drained without any seed phrase.

Why layer-2 networks shut down

Blast lived on promised yield and points for a future token airdrop. Once the airdrop was over and the yield became ordinary, the money moved to where the people are: layer-2 networks run by large companies, such as Coinbase's Base.

There is also the question of trust. According to L2BEAT, Blast's contracts are controlled by five key holders, and any three of them can instantly change the contracts or pause withdrawals. The fraud proof system, which is supposed to let anyone challenge invalid records, never fully went live. In practice, this means leaving the network depends on the team's honesty. Right now the team promises to let everyone out, but it set the rules of the game from the start.

The lesson is the same as with exchange shutdowns: money in someone else's system is only a promise to return it. Just like with CoinEx, which we covered in our guide on how to withdraw from an exchange that is shutting down, the winners are those who leave early and calmly.

FAQ

Will I lose my money if I miss the October 26 deadline?

No, according to the team. After October 26, you will be able to withdraw directly through the bridge contract on Ethereum, without the usual interface. The team promises to publish instructions before that date. But it is harder and riskier, especially if you have no experience working with contracts.

How long does a withdrawal from Blast take?

First, about a week while Blast pulls its ETH out of Lido: withdrawals are paused during that time. After that, the wait is cut to 24 hours. Add the time for transactions on Ethereum on top of that.

What happens to USDB?

When you withdraw to Ethereum, USDB is converted to DAI, according to Blast's documentation. On mainnet you will receive DAI.

What happens to the BLAST token?

Reports of the announcement say nothing about the token's future. It fell 17–19% after the news. If your tokens are on the Blast network, withdraw or sell them while the apps there still work.

Do I need ETH on mainnet to withdraw?

Yes. A bridge withdrawal ends with a transaction on Ethereum, and the gas for it is paid in mainnet ETH. Put a small amount there in advance; if you have none, you can buy ETH with USDT TRC20 and have it sent straight to that address.