Router Protocol to Shut Down After Four Years, Burn 303.3 Million ROUTE Tokens

Web3 Liquidity Squeeze Forces Shutdown

Full Service Termination by Sept. 30

Cross-chain infrastructure project Router Protocol will shut down after more than four years, citing weak liquidity in the Web3 market and high operating costs. Trading support for its native token, ROUTE, will also be phased out.

Router Protocol announced on X on Sept. 4 that it would halt operations and fully terminate services by Sept. 30. The project supports the transfer of digital assets and data between different blockchains.

The company said liquidity supplied to the Web3 market has shrunk over the past two years. It added that venture capital has shifted toward artificial intelligence, making it difficult to sustain the business. Lower fees in the cross-chain infrastructure market, high development and operating costs, and demand concentrated in a few major blockchains also hurt profitability.

Router Protocol said it had considered several options, including commercializing its technology, selling licenses, and pursuing an acquisition of the company or its technology. But it was unable to secure funding to maintain the development team over the long term. The company called the move not the outcome it had hoped for, but the most honest and responsible choice for the community.

As part of the shutdown, 303,333,198 ROUTE tokens held by the foundation will be permanently burned. The project also plans to coordinate with centralized exchanges to delist ROUTE trading pairs and related listings. Investors holding ROUTE on exchanges should check each platform’s trading halt and withdrawal schedule and move their assets before the deadline.

Last year, Router Protocol ended operations of Router Chain, its standalone Layer 1 blockchain, and pushed to focus on Open Graph Architecture, or OGA, an open cross-chain infrastructure initiative. The shift was intended to reduce the high maintenance costs and security burden of running its own chain, but the company still failed to secure a long-term revenue model after the business overhaul.

The project said it would provide additional details on the token burn schedule and exchange-specific delisting procedures through its official channels.