Lisk, the Swiss-based blockchain infrastructure company, is shutting down its blockchain, ending a product expansion strategy that saw it back early-stage startups and build an ecosystem presence in Africa, as it pivots into financial software for businesses.
The Lisk blockchain will be discontinued on October 31, 2026, while the company plans to wind down the Lisk decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO), according to a statement published on Tuesday. Lisk will keep its native LSK token, which will continue to trade on other blockchain networks, specifically Ethereum and Base.
The blockchain shutdown could end an important funding pipeline for African early-stage Web3 startups at a time when venture capital for the sector remains scarce, while also pulling back one of the ecosystem’s more active sources of capital and support. Africa’s blockchain startups raised $90.1 million in 2025, down 26.6% from the previous year, according to venture capital firm Crypto Valley VC (CV VC).
Lisk had built a presence in Africa and other emerging markets, hiring regional leads and working with accelerators and developer-training programmes to deploy capital into early-stage companies. Its investments included Azza, a Nigerian WhatsApp-based stablecoin payments company, and ClapMi, a Nigerian social-finance platform backed through an accelerator. The ecosystem also supported other startups, including LovCash, a South African digital supply-chain startup, and Afrikabal, a Rwandan agritech marketplace, through Lisk’s EMpower Fund.
The shutdown also marks a major retreat from Lisk’s attempt to build a blockchain ecosystem around the LSK token. Lisk said the chain failed to generate enough revenue to support the token, while grants and other incentives paid in LSK increased the supply of tokens in circulation and added selling pressure.
“The current trajectory—marked by large LSK spendings, ongoing decline of LSK token price, operational fragmentation across many external stakeholders, and execution of non-core activities—needs to be corrected to significantly improve the Lisk project’s long-term standing,” Lisk said in a forum announcement. “As a result, we need to adjust our strategy to support the recent price development of the LSK token by focusing only on activities that actually contribute value to the LSK token and provide real utility for token holders.”
According to DeFiLlama, a blockchain analytics platform, Lisk’s blockchain had over $139,000 in total value locked (TVL)—the value of digital assets deposited in Lisk’s decentralised applications on the network. Since January 2026, its TVL has steadily declined from $5.47 million, showing how sharply activity and liquidity on the blockchain have contracted. The current level is also the lowest since at least 2024.
The blockchain currently holds over $587,000 in stablecoins. Decentralised exchange trading volume was about $1,700 over the latest 24 hours, while the network generated about $3.88 in fees, underscoring the little capital flow and economic activity the blockchain is currently supporting.
The company’s pivot comes less than a year after blockchain founder Max Kordek returned as chief executive officer in December 2025 and began consolidating Lisk’s operations around a single focus. Kordek has since pushed the company toward its new financial software business, while winding down other initiatives and concentrating resources on Lisk.
Launched in 2016, Lisk now wants to focus on a new product for finance teams managing money across companies, countries, and currencies. Lisk said its platform will bring bank accounts, stablecoins, payments, and approvals into one workspace. The product is currently in early access.
As part of the transition, Lisk is proposing to burn 100 million LSK tokens held by the DAO. The move would cut the token’s total supply from 400 million to 300 million.
Another 47 million LSK tokens from the DAO treasury would be transferred to Lisk Limited, the company behind the new business. The DAO’s governance contracts and forum would then be shut down.
For LSK holders, the proposal would also remove the penalty for unstaking. Holders would still have to wait three days before their tokens become available.
Users who hold LSK on the Lisk Chain will need to move their tokens to Ethereum before the blockchain closes. Lisk says bridging can take at least seven days, giving holders a reason to begin the process well before the October deadline.
The company is also giving developers a route out: Lisk said it has worked with Celo, a layer-2 blockchain network, to create a migration path for projects built on the Lisk Chain. For Celo, the migration move could bring in developers and applications from Lisk as it expands its own ecosystem, deepening network effects.
The LSK token will have a different role after the blockchain shuts down. Lisk said the token will be used for rewards and, soon, payments within its new financial platform.
The proposal still needs community approval. If passed, it will end Lisk’s nearly decade-long run as a blockchain project and begin a new chapter as a financial software company.
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