The decentralized lending protocol ZeroLend has announced its complete shutdown. The project's founder, known as Ryker, cited low liquidity in supported networks and a lack of profitability as reasons for this decision.
— ZeroLend (@zerolendxyz) February 16, 2026
According to the developer, some of the supported blockchains have become inactive, and oracles have stopped providing data to them. This has made reliable market management impossible. The situation has been exacerbated by ongoing attacks from hackers and scammers, as well as the low margins of the business.
The team strongly recommended that clients withdraw their assets. Some user funds are locked in illiquid networks. To facilitate their return, the developers will update smart contracts and redistribute the frozen coins.
Ryker also announced partial compensation for liquidity providers affected by an exploit in the Base network last February. Payments will be funded from the team's personal airdrop allocation.
The total value locked in the protocol has plummeted from a peak of $359 million in November 2024 to just $6.59 million at the time of writing.
Source: DeFiLlama.In light of the shutdown announcement, the price of the native token ZERO dropped by 33.5%.
Daily chart of ZERO/USDT on Poloniex. Source: TradingView.It is worth noting that in August 2025, the MEV protocol Eden Network announced its closure, citing intense competition in the sector and high operational costs.
In November, the analytics service DappRadar decided to cease operations, citing "financial instability" in the market.