Lisk shuts down blockchain, cutting off a backer of African startups

Lisk, the Swiss-based blockchain infrastructure company, is shutting down its blockchain on October 31, 2026, and winding down its decentralised autonomous organisation, per a statement published Tuesday and reported by TechCabal. The company's native LSK token will remain in circulation on Ethereum and Base.

The shutdown closes off what had been an active, if modest, funding channel for African Web3 startups. Lisk had hired regional leads, partnered with accelerators, and deployed capital into early-stage companies across the continent, according to TechCabal. Its portfolio included Azza, a Nigerian WhatsApp-based stablecoin payments company; ClapMi, a Nigerian social-finance platform; LovCash, a South African digital supply-chain startup; and Afrikabal, a Rwandan agritech marketplace, the last two backed through Lisk's EMpower Fund. Africa's blockchain startups raised $90.1 million in 2025, down 26.6% from the prior year, per venture capital firm CV VC cited by TechCabal.

The blockchain's own metrics illustrate why Lisk is pulling the plug. According to DeFiLlama data cited in TechCabal, the network's total value locked had fallen to just over $139,000 by the time of the announcement, down from $5.47 million in January 2026. Decentralised exchange volume over the latest 24-hour period was roughly $1,700, and the network generated about $3.88 in fees. Lisk said in a forum post that grants and incentives paid in LSK inflated the token supply and added selling pressure, while the chain "failed to generate enough revenue to support the token."

Launched in 2016, Lisk is now pivoting to financial software for businesses — a platform it says will combine bank accounts, stablecoins, payments, and approvals in a single workspace. The product is currently in early access. The company's founder, Max Kordek, returned as CEO in December 2025 and has since consolidated operations around this new direction, per TechCabal.

As part of the transition, Lisk is proposing to burn 100 million LSK tokens held by the DAO, which would reduce the total supply from 400 million to 300 million. Another 47 million LSK tokens from the DAO treasury would be transferred to Lisk Limited, the entity behind the new business. The DAO's governance contracts and forum would then be shut down. The proposal still requires community approval.

For current users, the path forward is logistically time-sensitive: LSK holders on the Lisk Chain must bridge their tokens to Ethereum before the October 31 deadline, a process Lisk says takes at least seven days. Developers building on the chain have a migration option through Celo, a layer-2 network that Lisk says it has worked with to create a transition path — a move that could also bring new developers and applications into Celo's own ecosystem. After the shutdown, Lisk said LSK will be used for rewards and, eventually, payments within its new financial platform.