Zero Network, the gasless Layer-2 built by crypto wallet maker Zerion, is shutting down after the value locked on the network fell about 90% just 18 months after the launch.
The team said in a May 21 thread on X that users need to bridge ETH, tokens and NFTs off Zero Network before July 31. Although bridging into the network has been disabled, bridging out remains open until July 31, and block production will stop after that date, the post reads.
- Zero Network was built by Zerion, a San Francisco-based crypto wallet and portfolio app founded in 2016 by Evgeny Yurtaev, Alexey Bashlykov and Vadim Koleoshkin.
- Zerion raised $12.3 million in a 2022 Series B to expand its crypto wallet, including new trading features, support for more chains and work on its own wallet technology.
- The round was led by Wintermute Ventures, with Placeholder, Mosaic, Polymorphic Capital, Coinbase Ventures and Alchemy Ventures also participating.
Zerion co-founder Evgeny Yurtaev explained in a May 21 post on X that the company is winding down Zero Network because it sees less need for another blockchain and more demand for easier access to existing chains.
Evgeny Yurtaev
Zero Network failed to scale
Zero Network launched its testnet in June 2024 as a Layer 2 rollup built with ZKsync's ZK Stack, while its mainnet went live on Nov. 12, 2024.
The idea was to remove gas fees for regular Zerion users. Zero Network claimed in now-deleted documentation that it used a custom paymaster to cover transaction costs for Zerion wallet users, while app developers could also use the setup to sponsor fees for their own users.
But the chain never built much live DeFi activity, as DeFiLlama shows Zero Network has only about $147,700 in total value locked as of press time, down 87% from $1.17 million in early 2025.
UPDATE (May 22, 12:18 UTC): Adds comments from Zerion co-founder Evgeny Yurtaev