Abstract, the consumer chain backed by Pudgy Penguins' owner, will shut down on 15 December
Serguey Asael Shinder1 min readAbstract, a blockchain built for "consumer crypto" by Igloo Inc., the company behind Pudgy Penguins, is winding down, the project and Igloo's chief executive Luca Netz announced on X on 6 October.
The deadline. In its announcement, Abstract is Winding Down, the project tells users with funds on Abstract to bridge their assets off the chain through the Migration Hub (migrate.abs.xyz) or the native bridge (native-bridge.abs.xyz). The chain will shut down on 15 December 2026, and any funds not bridged by then will be inaccessible.
The reasons Netz gives.
- The vision, after Igloo acquired Frame in the summer of 2024, was to build the blockchain for consumer crypto.
- Abstract built the Portal and the Abstract Global Wallet, onboarded major brands and "amassed over 300 million transactions"; the project's own post counts over 144 unique apps deployed.
- Growth was "stifled by the lack of a DeFi ecosystem, insufficient liquidity, minimal institutional cross-over, and prohibitively high costs".
- "Unknown to most", Igloo had been funding Abstract for the past 18 months. "After losing tens of millions of dollars over two years… we still had not found product-market fit."
No token. Netz writes that, even after losing "8 figures", Igloo could have launched a token or pursued an ICO, and decided against it: "A token only works if there is something driving demand to it." Igloo's focus now returns entirely to Pudgy Penguins, the Pudgy NFTs and the PENGU token.