Botanix has disclosed that it will shut down its Bitcoin Layer 2 network in July and has requested users to withdraw their on-chain funds. The project, which launched less than a year ago, stated that the network never generated sufficient product demand, and fee income failed to sustain ongoing operations.
The user is required to withdraw funds.
On June 9, the project team released a statement confirming the gradual shutdown of the network. Botanix previously positioned itself as enabling transactions, lending, and staking on Bitcoin, aiming to bring Ethereum-style application development to the Bitcoin ecosystem.
However, the team's latest statement indicates that market acceptance of this roadmap is limited. Botanix believes that Bitcoin is still primarily viewed by users as a reserve asset rather than a main network for hosting applications.
Bundling Bitcoin remains the mainstream choice.
Botanix stated that users and funds ultimately tend to remain on general-purpose Ethereum Layer 2 networks, participating in lending and yield strategies through wrapped Bitcoin. Although this approach carries some centralized risks, it offers lower costs and reduced barriers to entry.
The project team also mentioned that the network originally planned to launch its own token, but due to the product never achieving sufficient market fit, the related plans were not pursued further.
- In 2024, Botanix Labs completed an $8.5 million seed funding round.
- Investors include Bitcoin experts such as Dan Held and Eric Wall.
- Network is configured as an EVM-equivalent environment to facilitate seamless migration of Ethereum dApps.
The locked-up amount has significantly decreased from its peak.
On-chain data shows that Botanix’s funds have significantly contracted. According to DeFi Llama, as of Wednesday, assets deposited in Botanix’s smart contracts totaled approximately $120,000, a sharp decline from its peak of around $26.3 million in September 2025.
Meanwhile, this network generated only $10 in transaction fees over the past 24 hours. Botanix stated that users prefer to hold Bitcoin as an interest-bearing asset rather than trade it frequently on the network, resulting in platform service costs exceeding revenue.
Additional information: The company disclosed that Botanix Labs completed an $8.5 million seed round in 2024, but the network ultimately failed to generate sufficient market demand to support its token launch and ongoing operations.