The ZKX Protocol, a social derivatives trading platform built on the Ethereum Layer-2 network Starknet, has closed down due to insufficient user engagement. Founder Eduard Jubany Tur announced on July 31 that the platform’s minimal user activity and significantly decreased trading volumes made it economically unfeasible to continue. The daily revenue was insufficient to cover cloud server expenses.
Tur stated that ZKX has delisted all markets, closed all positions, and returned all funds to users’ trading accounts. Users have until the end of August to transfer their funds to the protocol’s main self-custodial account.
This shutdown follows a $7.6 million funding round on June 19, which included investors like Flowdesk, GCR, and DeWhales. Previous investors included Hashkey, Amber Group, Crypto.com, and StarkWare.
Tur mentioned the unsustainable support for the protocol due to the low value of its recently launched ZKE token. He noted that the token generation event did not meet expectations, leading to significant losses as major token holders cashed out, further decreasing the token’s value.
He also attributed the closure to a general downturn in the decentralised finance (DeFi) sector. The ZKX token’s price dropped 37.8% in the last 24 hours, trading at $0.02, and has fallen 96.4% from its peak of $0.62 on June 20.
