Acala and Karura plan permanent shutdown for February 2027
The Polkadot and Kusama decentralised finance networks cited fragmented liquidity for the proposed closure, which requires community approval through referendums.
Key takeaways
- 1Acala and Karura plan to cease operations on 10 February 2027, subject to governance approval.
- 2Users are advised to withdraw external assets such as DOT, KSM, USDT, and USDC, while ACA and KAR tokens cannot be withdrawn.
- 3The networks were the first parachain auction winners on Polkadot and Kusama respectively.
Decentralised finance platform Acala and its Kusama-based sister network Karura plan to shut down permanently on 10 February 2027, the project team announced. The proposed closure is contingent on the approval of Acala Referendum 195 and Karura Referendum 137.
The development team has urged users to remove all external assets from both platforms before the shutdown date, specifically naming Polkadot (DOT), Kusama (KSM), Tether (USDT), and USD Coin (USDC). Native network tokens ACA and KAR cannot be withdrawn from the systems. The team cited insufficient and fragmented liquidity across Polkadot and Kusama as the main reason for ending operations.
Acala and Karura hold historical significance within the multi-chain framework, having won the inaugural parachain auctions on Polkadot and Kusama respectively. Parachains are individual custom blockchains that plug into the central relay chain for security and interoperability. Acala was designed to function as the core financial hub for the network, offering decentralised trading, stablecoin infrastructure, and yield services.
The decision to wind down points to ongoing liquidity fragmentation across specialized application chains. Users holding deposited assets must transfer their funds to external wallets or alternative platforms prior to February 2027, while governance voters will decide the final outcome of the two closure referendums.
Reported and edited by the YourKhabri desk under our editorial policy. Nothing here is investment advice.