- The Polygon zkEVM mainnet beta sequencer will be retired on July 1, 2026.
- Wallet holdings that are not bridged by the deadline will be automatically migrated to Ethereum L1.
- Funds locked in DeFi protocols cannot be automatically migrated and may become inaccessible after a shutdown.
- Polygon first announced an exit timeline of June 2025, providing a 12-month transition period.
- A dedicated billing interface will be available for eligible assets held in the wallet after shutdown.
Polygon issues final reminder ahead of zkEVM mainnet beta shutdown
Polygon Labs has issued a final reminder to users ahead of the scheduled shutdown of the Polygon zkEVM mainnet beta sequencer on July 1, 2026. The company reiterated that users holding assets on the network should migrate their funds before the deadline, especially assets deposited in decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols.
The termination timeline was originally announced for June 2025, giving the ecosystem a full year to prepare for the network’s retirement. According to Polygon, the chain and bridge will remain operational until July 1st, allowing users to transfer assets to Ethereum before the sequencer is turned off.
Polygon says:
“This is a final note: If you have assets in the zkEVM mainnet beta, now is the time to transfer your funds.”
When the sequencer is shut down, transactions will no longer be processed on the Polygon zkEVM mainnet beta, impacting the operation of applications and protocols built on the network.
DeFi assets face greater risks than funds held in wallets
Polygon emphasized that only assets held directly in users’ wallets will be eligible for automatic migration to Ethereum Layer 1 if they remain on the network after July 1st. An exit snapshot of wallet balances is taken upon shutdown, and those funds are later made claimable through a dedicated Ethereum-based interface.
However, the company cautioned that assets locked in smart contracts, such as DeFi applications, liquidity pools, multi-signature wallets, and other protocol control contracts, cannot be automatically migrated. Polygon said it does not own or control the decentralized applications running on its network and cannot reclaim or transfer those assets on behalf of users.
This warning is echoed by the Ecosystem Project. QuickSwap advised users to withdraw all assets and liquidity provider positions from Polygon zkEVM prior to the shutdown date, noting that funds remaining on-chain may be lost after the network ceases operations. The exchange clarified that this change will not affect assets held on Polygon PoS.
Billing process and key dates
Polygon outlined several milestones for users affected by network twilight. Until July 1, 2026, users can continue to bridge their assets to Ethereum as long as the network remains operational. On the shutdown date, Polygon takes a final snapshot of the on-chain balances held in the wallet.
After sunset, eligible users will be able to recover automatically migrated assets on Ethereum using a dedicated claim interface. Polygon says the billing process will be done entirely on Ethereum and will not require any activity on the deprecated zkEVM chain.
The company also confirmed that the billing period is open until December 31, 2027. Eligible property that is not claimed after that date will be considered abandoned.
Polygon zkEVM was launched as an Ethereum-compatible zero-knowledge rollup designed to provide low-cost transactions while maintaining compatibility with Ethereum applications. Polygon says the technology and research developed through the zkEVM project continues to support other parts of the ecosystem, including the AggLayer infrastructure and the Polygon CDK chain. Sunset only applies to the Polygon zkEVM mainnet beta and does not affect Pos or other Polygon ecosystem networks.
Recently, INK Finance suffered a security breach on its Polygon network after an attacker exploited a whitelist validation flaw in the Workspace Treasury Proxy contract, resulting in approximately $140,000 in USDT being compromised in a flash loan-backed attack.
As of 10:31 AM UTC, Polygon PoS holds approximately $1.03 billion in total value locked (TVL), ranking 10th among the blockchain ecosystem in terms of DeFi liquidity, according to DefiLlama. Despite a decline of 1.9% in the past 24 hours, the network remained one of the largest decentralized finance platforms in terms of capital deployed across applications and protocols.
Polygon ($POL) Up 4.13% for the week due to accelerating volume
of polygons $POL The token was trading at $0.07903 as of 10:23 AM UTC, up 2.57% over the past 24 hours and up 4.13% over the past 7 days. The market capitalization of this virtual currency was $842.7 million, almost matching the circulating supply of 10.66 billion. Trading activity also strengthened, with 24-hour volume increasing by 12.6% to $40.5 million, indicating increased investor interest. While recent gains indicate improved sentiment, the movements have been relatively modest and a market-wide turnaround is yet to be confirmed.
