Blast shutdown rattles Ethereum layer-2 as bitcoin holds near $84,600

The Blast shutdown has given crypto a sobering lesson about Ethereum’s crowded layer-2 market. Blast, once a major scaling network holding more than $2 billion in assets, is closing. CoinDesk reported that activity has faded and costs have risen. Cointelegraph said costs now outpace revenue.

Bigger platforms are taking the business. CoinDesk noted that Coinbase and Robinhood are building their own networks. Smaller chains struggle to compete with them. Blast users must now move their funds before the network winds down.

What the Blast shutdown means for the market

The closure is a business story more than a price story. Layer-2 networks promise cheaper transactions on Ethereum. They also carry fixed costs, from running servers to paying security fees. When users leave, those costs stay. Blast’s exit suggests that only networks with large distribution can survive.

Bitcoin shrugged off the news. It traded near $84,600 on Saturday, according to both CoinDesk and Cointelegraph. The two sites showed slightly different 24-hour moves, a reminder of how prices vary by data source.

The bigger driver was macro data. The US economy added only 29,000 jobs in September, and unemployment rose to 4.2 percent, CoinDesk reported. Weak jobs numbers pushed bond yields lower. Bitcoin briefly touched $87,000, and short sellers lost more than $120 million in liquidations, according to Cointelegraph. CoinDesk said the coin later reversed its early gains.

Stress showed up elsewhere too. Anchorage Digital, which Cointelegraph described as a $4.2 billion crypto bank, is cutting 17 percent of its staff. Meanwhile, BNY is in talks with Payward, Kraken’s parent company, on a partnership covering custody, trading and payments, CoinDesk said. Consolidation is under way, and traditional finance is moving in.

Our earlier report on bitcoin holding near $84,000 described the same range-bound mood. The market now waits for clearer signals from the Federal Reserve and from regulators. Community bankers have also sued the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency over crypto trust charters, CoinDesk reported.

Expect more consolidation. Weak chains will close, and strong brands will grow.

Fact basis: CoinDesk and Cointelegraph reports of 3 October 2026. This article is for information only and is not investment advice. Crypto assets are volatile and you can lose money.