Another DeFi lender has called it quits.
ZeroLend announced Monday that it is winding down operations after three years, with founder “Ryker” saying the protocol had become unsustainable. The core issue was not a single exploit or market crash, but a slow bleed
Several of the layer 2 networks ZeroLend operated on saw activity and liquidity dry up, while some oracle providers stopped supporting those chains altogether. That made it harder to run lending markets reliably, and revenues failed to keep up with costs.
At its peak in November 2024, ZeroLend held nearly $359 million in total value locked. That figure has now collapsed by about 98% to roughly $6.6 million. The ZERO token fell another 34% in the past 24 hours and is down 99% from its 2024 high.
This story is an excerpt from the Unchained Daily newsletter.
Subscribe here to get these updates in your email for free
Users are being urged to withdraw funds, though some assets remain stuck on thinly traded networks. The team says it plans contract upgrades to help redistribute stranded liquidity. For token holders, however, the project’s closure appears final.
Disclaimer: The information on this page may come from third parties and does not represent the views or opinions of Gate. The content displayed on this page is for reference only and does not constitute any financial, investment, or legal advice. Gate does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information and shall not be liable for any losses arising from the use of this information. Virtual asset investments carry high risks and are subject to significant price volatility. You may lose all of your invested principal. Please fully understand the relevant risks and make prudent decisions based on your own financial situation and risk tolerance. For details, please refer to
Disclaimer.
Related Articles
Polymarket Upgrades Platform on April 28, Migrating Collateral from USDC.e to pUSD
Gate News message, April 27 — Polymarket announced it will upgrade its platform on April 28, 2026, at approximately 19:00 UTC, with trading suspended for about one hour during the maintenance window. The upgrade includes a new-generation trading contract (CTF Exchange V2), a reconstructed order book
GateNews36m ago
Curve Proposes Market-Based Recovery Plan for $700K Bad Debt in CRV-long LlamaLend Market
Gate News message, April 27 — Curve team unveiled a governance proposal on April 27 to address approximately $700,000 in bad debt from the CRV-long LlamaLend market, which occurred on October 10, 2025. The proposed recovery mechanism leverages the optionality of CRV-long vault assets: vault value in
GateNews36m ago
Scallop’s abandoned V2 contract was exploited; after 150k SUI were stolen, it announced full reimbursement
Sui Network decentralized lending protocol Scallop posted an official announcement on the X platform on April 26 (Sunday), confirming that it was hit by a vulnerability attack. The attacker extracted approximately 150,000 SUI from an abandoned rewards contract associated with sSUI spool. According to the official statement, the core liquidity pool and users’ deposits were not affected. The protocol has restored deposits and withdrawals, confirming that the company will fully reimburse all losses with company funds.
MarketWhisper53m ago
AAVE Now Live on Solana Network, Available on Phantom and Jupiter
Gate News message, April 27 — AAVE is now live on the Solana network, with support for trading the DeFi governance token on platforms including Phantom and Jupiter.
Aave is a non-custodial liquidity
GateNews57m ago
Aave, Kelp, LayerZero Propose Releasing $71M Frozen ETH to Restore rsETH
Gate News message, April 26 — Aave Labs, joined by Kelp DAO, LayerZero, EtherFi, and Compound, filed a Constitutional AIP on Saturday morning asking Arbitrum DAO to release roughly $71 million in frozen ETH into DeFi United, a cross-protocol relief effort following last week's $292 million Kelp DAO
GateNews3h ago
Aave Proposes 25,000 ETH to DeFi United for Kelp DAO Exploit Relief
Aave service providers put forth a governance proposal on Friday that would contribute 25,000 ETH worth nearly $58 million from the protocol's DAO to DeFi United, a "coordinated relief effort" to restore backing for rsETH following the Kelp DAO exploit. The proposed contribution would go toward clos
CryptoFrontier7h ago
