CryptoSlate
Silicon Network, an Ethereum layer 2 built with Polygon CDK and connected to Agglayer, will shut down on Dec. 31 with roughly $9.75 million still locked on-chain. The network stopped accepting new bridge deposits and ended its main network on Sept. 2, opening a withdrawal-only window that closes at year-end, after which its explorer and chain go offline and remaining assets become unrecoverable. Korbit's Web3 Wallet, the South Korean exchange's DeFi gateway that ran on Silicon, is being discontinued alongside the chain, less than two years after launch.
Why it matters
The shutdown crystallizes a problem the broader L2 market has so far only theorized about: what happens when a chain itself dies while user assets are still on it. Silicon positions itself as non-custodial and explicitly disclaims any obligation to redeem unmoved assets, putting the burden of bridge unwinds, gas reservations, and finalization timing on individual holders.
The closure lands as Ethereum's L2 market hardens into a near-duopoly. Base and Arbitrum together hold about $24.7 billion, more than 80% of the roughly $30.5 billion tracked by L2Beat. Vitalik Buterin has separately argued that the original "branded shard" framing no longer fits a base layer that scales on its own, urging L2s to deliver value beyond cheaper execution. Silicon's exit is the small-end mirror of that consolidation pressure.
Market impact
Exit paths are sharply asymmetric across the trapped $9.75 million. The dominant positions are roughly $2.66 million of USDC, $2.54 million of WBTC, $2.08 million of ETH, and $1.85 million of USDT. Assets originally bridged from Ethereum can return to mainnet during the withdrawal window if users keep enough ETH for gas and complete finalization before the cutoff.
Tokens issued natively on Silicon face a harder route. They cannot be bridged directly to Ethereum and depend on liquidity that Silicon itself warns may evaporate as activity winds down. For users holding such tokens, the clock is the only thing that matters, and once the network terminates, no recovery path is offered.
Frequently asked questions
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What is Silicon Network and why is it shutting down?
Silicon was an Ethereum layer 2 built with Polygon CDK and connected to Agglayer, closely integrated with South Korean exchange Korbit. It stopped new bridge deposits on Sept 2 and will terminate its network on Dec 31.
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How much money is still trapped on Silicon?
Roughly $9.75 million, per L2Beat data. The largest positions are about $2.66M in USDC, $2.54M in WBTC, $2.08M in ETH and $1.85M in USDT.
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What happens if users don't withdraw by December 31?
The chain and its explorer go offline permanently. Silicon describes itself as non-custodial and explicitly disclaims any obligation to redeem unmoved assets after termination.
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Can all tokens on Silicon be bridged back to Ethereum?
No. Assets originally bridged from Ethereum can return to mainnet during the window, but tokens issued natively on Silicon cannot bridge directly and depend on liquidity inside the dying network.
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Does the Silicon shutdown affect Korbit customers?
Yes. Korbit's Web3 Wallet, which ran on Silicon and gave exchange users access to DeFi and dapps, is being discontinued alongside the chain less than two years after launch.
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