Nearly $10 Million Must Escape a Dying Ethereum L2 Network Before New Year’s Eve or Risk Becoming Unrecoverable

Silicon, an Ethereum layer-2 network built with Polygon CDK and tied to South Korea’s Korbit exchange, is shutting down with roughly $9.75 million in assets still on-chain. The network stopped accepting new bridge deposits on Sept. 2, opening a withdrawal window that expires Dec. 31. After that deadline, Silicon warns, assets left behind on the chain will be unrecoverable. Silicon’s Four-month Exit Window Is Ticking Silicon stopped accepting new bridge deposits and ended its network operations on Sept. 2, starting a withdrawal period that runs through Dec. 31. The project has said its explorer and network will shut down afterward, leaving assets that remain on the chain unrecoverable. Silicon said: "This network is a non-custodial service, meaning that the custody and withdrawal of assets are managed directly by each user. Once the service has been terminated, assets that have not been withdrawn cannot be recovered." The warning places the burden of asset recovery directly on users. Because Silicon does not hold customer funds in custody, there is no centralized operator expected to step in and move remaining tokens after the chain goes offline. An L2 Built to Connect Korean Exchange Users to Ethereum The closure unwinds a network that had sought to connect Korean centralized-exchange users with Ethereum’s onchain economy. Silicon was built with Polygon CDK, connected to Agglayer and closely integrated with Korbit, one of South Korea’s major crypto exchanges. Korbit’s Web3 Wallet, which ran on Silicon and was designed to give exchange customers access to DeFi and decentralized applications, is also being discontinued less than two years after launch. The wallet’s shutdown is part of the broader wind-down, meaning users who accessed Silicon through that product are now facing the same Dec. 31 withdrawal deadline. The imminent shutdown has turned from a network decision into an asset-recovery problem, with different tokens facing very different paths off Silicon. The $9.75 Million Still Sitting on Silicon Data from L2Beat showed Silicon held about $9.75 million in assets before the closure process moved into its final phase. L2Beat’s breakdown of the largest balances on the dying L2 is as follows: Asset / Token Reported Balance on Silicon Wind-Down Context USDC $2.66 million Largest stablecoin position still on-chain WBTC $2.54 million Wrapped Bitcoin exposure awaiting withdrawal ETH $2.08 million Native Ethereum asset bridged onto Silicon USDT $1.85 million Second stablecoin position still held on the chain Total Network Balance Around $9.75 million Funds facing the Dec. 31 cutoff How easily that money can leave now depends on what users hold. Some assets may have direct bridge routes back to Ethereum mainnet or other networks, while others could require more complex exit operations through the project’s fading infrastructure. What Happens to Funds Left on the Chain After Dec. 31 Silicon’s post-deadline plan is unambiguous: after Dec. 31, the network and its explorer will be shut down. For anyone who has not moved assets off the chain by that point, the project says recovery will no longer be possible. The shutdown timeline also affects users who came to Silicon through Korbit’s Web3 Wallet, which is being discontinued alongside the network. With no active network service, no front-end wallet support and no custodian holding the funds, assets left in Silicon’s bridge contracts are expected to become stranded once the chain is permanently turned off. For now, the remaining question is operational: which users will successfully withdraw their tokens before the network’s final shutdown, and which balances will be left behind to become unrecoverable when Silicon goes dark. Why Is Silicon Network Shutting Down? Silicon stopped accepting new bridge deposits and ended its network on Sept. 2, starting a withdrawal period that runs through Dec. 31. The project says the network is being terminated and that assets not withdrawn before then cannot be recovered. How Much Money Is Still Trapped on Silicon? According to L2Beat, Silicon holds roughly $9.75 million in assets. The largest balances include $2.66 million in USDC, $2.54 million in WBTC, $2.08 million in ETH and $1.85 million in USDT. What Happens to Assets Left on Silicon After Dec. 31? Silicon has said its explorer and network will shut down after Dec. 31. Since the network is non-custodial, assets that have not been withdrawn by that point are expected to become unrecoverable. What Was Korbit’s Role in the Silicon L2? Silicon was closely integrated with Korbit, a major South Korean crypto exchange, and was designed to connect Korbit users with Ethereum’s onchain economy. Korbit’s Web3 Wallet, which ran on Silicon, is also being discontinued less than two years after launch. Does Silicon’s Shutdown Affect Polygon Cdk or Agglayer? Silicon was built with Polygon CDK and connected to Agglayer, but its shutdown is specific to Silicon’s own network termination. The immediate impact is focused on users who must withdraw assets from Silicon before the chain and explorer close permanently.