Despite a surge in the cryptocurrency market, Public Goods Network, a Layer-2 solution on the Ethereum ecosystem supported by Gitcoin, announced it will shut down all operations within the next six months, aiming to completely cease activities by mid-2024. The decision follows an extensive evaluation by the project team.
The shutdown marks a turning point for the network, which was launched last year as an application chain to complete Gitcoin’s operations in public goods and developer funding. The project cited various reasons for the closure, including challenges in migrating users to the network and operational costs exceeding the budget.
“Encouraging people to use without the convenience of a scaled network was difficult, and the resources required to support this were beyond Public Goods Network’s budget,” the team shared on social media.
Public Goods Network, a collaboration between Gitcoin and Conduit, was designed as a low-cost Layer-2 solution on Ethereum. The network was developed using OP Stack, a software tool by OP Mainnet developers, joining a list of Layer-2 projects including Base, Zora, and BNB Chain.
The Layer-2 landscape is evolving to meet user expectations, with discussions within the crypto community highlighting the primary use of Layer-2 networks for airdrop events. Web3 users are expanding their engagement based on team announcements about potential airdrops and Total Value Locked (TVL) data, as seen with the Optimism and Arbitrum airdrop events.